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2 Kings 13 The Death of Elisha, The Reigns of Jehoahaz and Jehoash of Israel, and the Conflict with Aram

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The miracle at the grave of Elisha. (Jan Nagel, 1596)

2 Kings 13:1-13 The Reign of Jehoahaz and Jehoash (Joash) of Israel

 1 In the twenty-third year of King Joash son of Ahaziah of Judah, Jehoahaz son of Jehu began to reign over Israel in Samaria; he reigned seventeen years. 2 He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and followed the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat that he caused Israel to sin; he did not depart from them. 3 The anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, so he gave them repeatedly into the hand of King Hazael of Aram, then into the hand of Ben-hadad son of Hazael. 4 But Jehoahaz entreated the LORD, and the LORD heeded him, for he saw the oppression of Israel, how the king of Aram oppressed them. 5 Therefore the LORD gave Israel a savior, so they escaped from the hand of the Arameans, and the people of Israel lived in their homes as formerly. 6 Nevertheless, they did not depart from the sins of the house of Jeroboam that he caused Israel to sin but walked in them; the sacred pole also remained in Samaria. 7 So Jehoahaz was left with an army of not more than fifty horsemen, ten chariots, and ten thousand footmen, for the king of Aram had destroyed them and made them like the dust at threshing. 8 Now the rest of the acts of Jehoahaz and all that he did, including his might, are they not written in the Book of the Annals of the Kings of Israel? 9 So Jehoahaz slept with his ancestors, and they buried him in Samaria; then his son Joash succeeded him.
  10 In the thirty-seventh year of King Joash of Judah, Jehoash son of Jehoahaz began to reign over Israel in Samaria; he reigned sixteen years. 11 He also did what was evil in the sight of the LORD; he did not depart from all the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat that he caused Israel to sin, but he walked in them. 12 Now the rest of the acts of Joash and all that he did, as well as the might with which he fought against King Amaziah of Judah, are they not written in the Book of the Annals of the Kings of Israel? 13 So Joash slept with his ancestors, and Jeroboam sat upon his throne; Joash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel.

One of the struggles many readers of 2 Kings have in this, and the surrounding chapters is that the names are often reused by different leaders. In this chapter alone we have a King Jehoash/Joash of both Judah and Israel as well as King Hazael naming his son Ben-hadad, the name of the king he murdered in Aram. It is also worth noting briefly that the math for the time period of the reigns of these two kings in Samaria do not add up: If Jehoahaz begins his reign in the twenty-third year of King Joash of Judah and his son King Jehoash begins his reign in the thirty-seventh year of King Joash of Judah he would reign fourteen years, not seventeen as indicated by 2 Kings. There can be reasons, like a co-regency for three years, that can cause the math to work out. I’m not going to dwell on this because it is ultimately not the focus of the narrative, but it is worth noting.

Jehoahaz and Jehoash of Samaria are descendants of Jehu who in his bloody revolution wiped out the worship of Baal in Samaria but, in the view of 2 Kings, Jehu and his descendants did not go far enough to return Northern Israel to the right worship of God. The sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat are the golden calves which the first king of Northern Israel placed in shrines at Bethel and Dan (1 Kings 12: 25-33) to represent the God of Israel and to prevent the people of Northern Israel from returning to Jerusalem to worship in Solomon’s temple. There is also an Asherah (NRSVue sacred pole) in Samaria. The term refers both to the goddess Asherah and the sacred pole utilized in her worship. These worship sites and practices anger the God of Israel and are a cause for the continued victories of Aram over the kings of Israel in the view of the narrator.

Hazael and later his son Ben-hadad of Aram continue to gain territory from Israel and to humiliate the kings of Israel militarily. King Jehoahaz being left with an army of fifty horsemen, ten chariots, and ten thousand footman points to an army whose maneuver units (horsemen and chariots) have been decimated. Ten thousand footmen is a significant force, but they are vulnerable to the much faster moving horse mounted or pulled forces. Likely this transformed the army of Jehoahaz into a defensive force rather than one that has the speed and maneuverability to be an effective raiding and attacking force. Yet, Israel was never to be a military power and Jehoahaz finally appeals to the LORD from the oppression of the people and the LORD hears.

The narration of this flow where the kings did what was evil in the sight of the LORD causing the LORD to be angry with the people but then crying out to the LORD and the LORD providing deliverance is the basic pattern of the book of Judges. Here King Jehoahaz entreats the LORD, the LORD sees the oppression of the people and sends a deliverer/savior. Yet, this narration is unusual because it never identifies the deliverer. As Choon-Leong Seow can state:

Whereas the “savior” is typically named in the analogous depictions from Israel’s early history (it was typically the next ruler), however, he is not explicitly identified here (v.5). Scholars have variously suggested that the allusion is to a third-party aggressor whose pressure on the Arameans brought a reprieve for Israel (such as the Assyrian king Adad-nirari III or even Zakkur of Hamath), another Israelite king like Joash or Jeroboam (II), or Elisha. (NIB III: 236)

Although there are geopolitical events, like the rise of Assyria, which weaken the Arameans I do think that the likely candidates for the text are King Jehoash or the Prophet Elisha (see below) since Jehoash will recapture the land lost to the Arameans after his meeting with the dying Elisha.

2 Kings 13: 14-20 The Death of Elisha

  14 Now when Elisha had fallen sick with the illness of which he was to die, King Joash of Israel went down to him and wept before him, crying, “My father, my father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” 15 Elisha said to him, “Take a bow and arrows,” so he took a bow and arrows. 16 Then he said to the king of Israel, “Draw the bow,” and he drew it. Elisha laid his hands on the king’s hands. 17 Then he said, “Open the window eastward,” and he opened it. Elisha said, “Shoot,” and he shot. Then he said, “The LORD’s arrow of victory, the arrow of victory over Aram! For you shall fight the Arameans in Aphek until you have made an end of them.” 18 He continued, “Take the arrows,” and he took them. He said to the king of Israel, “Strike the ground with them”; he struck three times and stopped. 19 Then the man of God was angry with him and said, “You should have struck five or six times; then you would have struck down Aram until you had made an end of it, but now you will strike down Aram only three times.”
  20 So Elisha died, and they buried him. Now bands of Moabites used to invade the land in the spring of the year. 21 As a man was being buried, a marauding band was seen and the man was thrown into the grave of Elisha; as soon as the man touched the bones of Elisha, he came to life and stood on his feet.

Elisha’s approximately fifty-year ministry comes to an end as he nears his death, yet the text records two final miraculous actions to the prophet. The first involves the deliverance of Israel from its oppression under the Arameans. King Joash/Jehoash of Israel comes to the prophet’s deathbed mourning. It is conceivable that the king has come to seek the prophet’s guidance as he marches to war with Aram. As Mordechai Cogan and Hayim Tadmor note,

Prophets were regularly consulted prior to the departure of the army to battle (cf. e.g. 1 Kgs 22); Elisha even accompanied Jehoram on the Moabite campaign (see above 3:11) Might not Joash have sought the advice of the dying Elisha, just as Israel was setting off to attack Aram? (Cogan, 1988, p. 150)

It is also worth noting that Elisha has been a thorn in the Aramean side before by informing the king of Israel where the Aramean forces would be. (2 Kings 6: 8-23) For the narrator of 2 Kings prophets often have more power than kings to deliver the people.

The phrase, “The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” first appeared at the ascension of Elijah into heaven and its presence here may link Elisha with his famous predecessor. It appears visually in 2 Kings 6: 8-23 when the eyes of the servant of Elisha is opened to see the horses and chariots of fire which surrounded and protected Elisha and the sons of the prophets. Yet here it may also allude to the reality that Israel no longer has horsemen and chariots after their humiliation by the Arameans. Elisha’s presence may be the necessary replacement for the military inadequacy of King Joash/Jehoash of Israel’s forces and now the prophet is on his deathbed.

Elisha does two sign acts with a bow and arrow.[1] First an arrow is drawn and shot out the east facing window which becomes the LORD’s arrow of victory over Aram. Then the king is instructed to take the arrows and strike the ground with them. The prophet is angered that the king only strikes the ground three times which portends three victories over Aram rather than five or six which would have eliminated Aram as a threat, yet in the text the instructions of the prophet do not indicate the expectation of striking the ground multiple times. Yet, the ways of prophets are often inscrutable to those who seek their counsel and the words of the prophet give immediate hope to a beleaguered people and their king.

After Elisha dies and is buried we hear of another conflict involving the Moabites. This may be a story from a later time, but it also may occur in the continued conflict between Aram and Israel where Moabites take advantage of the instability to raid. Ultimately the conflict is not the primary point of the narrative. Rather, the continuing power of the prophet Elisha is whose bones are enough to bring a dead man back to life are the focal point of the story. Elisha had once brought the son of the Shunammite woman back to life and now even in death his bones continue to bring life in a time of death.

2 Kings 13: 22-25 The Conflict Between Israel and Aram

  22 Now King Hazael of Aram oppressed Israel all the days of Jehoahaz. 23 But the LORD was gracious to them and had compassion on them; he turned toward them because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and would not destroy them, nor has he banished them from his presence until now.
  24 When King Hazael of Aram died, his son Ben-hadad succeeded him. 25 Then Jehoash son of Jehoahaz took again from Ben-hadad son of Hazael the towns that he had taken from his father Jehoahaz in war. Three times Joash defeated him and recovered the towns of Israel.

The narrator of 2 Kings views the occurrences in the story of Israel and Judah through a theological lens where the LORD the God of Israel is responsible for both the good and the bad that occurs to the people. Even with the actions of Israel that cause the LORD to be angry the LORD still responds to their entreaties in a gracious manner because of the promises made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The combination of the story of Elisha’s action with the defeat of Aram by Jehoash son of Jehoahaz illustrate the faithfulness and patience of God with the people. Yet, the narrator of 2 Kings knows that this patience of God will not last forever, and the story is told from the perspective of the exile of Northern Israel by Assyria and Judah by Babylon, hence the ominous “until now” in verse 23.

From a historical perspective this is a time where the Aramean threat is tempered by the rise of Assyria. Northern Israel is still a militarily vulnerable kingdom whose practices continue to, from the perspective of 2 Kings, anger the LORD their God. The prophet Elisha who had been a deliverer of the people in many times is now dead and the promised four generations of Jehu on the throne in Samaria has now halfway to its completion. There are storms brewing to the north of Israel and within the kingdom of Samaria that will break forth in the coming years and chapters.

[1] In Ezekiel 21:21 shaking arrows is used by the Babylonians as a means of divination, but with the prophets of Israel and Judah these are sign acts which enhance the prophet’s words.

2 Kings 8 Transitioning from Prophetic Time to a Major Transition in Royal Time

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Ivory carving found at Arslan Tash, Syria. A cache of ivories found at the Assyrian outpost of Arslan Tash was undoubtedly booty taken from Hazael’s palace in Damascus. The regal figure depicted on this piece is probably Hazael himself. (Louvre Museum, Paris)

2 Kings 8: 1-6 

1 Now Elisha had said to the woman whose son he had restored to life, “Get up and go with your household and settle wherever you can, for the LORD has called for a famine, and it will come on the land for seven years.” 2 So the woman got up and did according to the word of the man of God; she went with her household and settled in the land of the Philistines seven years. 3 At the end of the seven years, when the woman returned from the land of the Philistines, she set out to appeal to the king for her house and her land. 4 Now the king was talking with Gehazi the servant of the man of God, saying, “Tell me all the great things that Elisha has done.” 5 While he was telling the king how Elisha had restored a dead person to life, the woman whose son he had restored to life appealed to the king for her house and her land. Gehazi said, “My lord king, here is the woman, and here is her son whom Elisha restored to life.” 6 When the king questioned the woman, she told him. So the king appointed an official for her, saying, “Restore all that was hers, together with all the revenue of the fields from the day that she left the land until now.”

Elisha continues to provide for this woman who showed him hospitality and warns her and her child to flee the coming famine. The husband is not mentioned and is likely dead at this point in their story and this woman acts as a head of household. The seven years of famine matches the seven-year cycle of Genesis 41: 25-30 which causes the sons of Israel to seek food in Egypt, but here the famine is far more localized. Seven is a common biblical number of completion or a long time, and so the actual span of the drought may be longer or shorter than this commonly used number to designate a completed time. The woman makes her temporary home in Philistia, roughly 100 miles away, and avoids the impact of the famine. The famine is not explicitly stated as God’s judgment on the Omri dynasty in Samaria and is likely linked to the famine mentioned in the previous chapter during the siege of Samaria, but the famine as a part of God’s judgment against the Omri dynasty can be implied in the story. The stories of the last several chapters which chronicle the works of Elisha probably exist beyond the twelve years of King Jehoram of Judah (even though Jehoram’s reign brackets these stories). The king who is interested in the works of Elisha is the king of Israel, but likely not Jehoram or any other king of the Omri line.

Gehazi reemerges in the story, and this may either precede his affliction with leprosy/skin disease,[1] after some unmentioned healing of his disease, or he may remain afflicted. Whatever his condition he is able to converse with the king of Israel about the acts of Elisha. As he describes Elisha’s raising of the woman’s son, he points to this woman who has come to “cry out” (NRSVue appeal)[2] for the return of her property. The Torah imagines a world where the property of a family would be held by that family in perpetuity, but the narrative of scripture points to a different reality. It is possible that in her absence a relative or even squatters have come in and taken over her land, or that in her absence it became crown land, but this once well-connected woman now comes to appeal for her property. Her connection to Elisha allows her appeal to be heard by this king who is interested in the acts of Elisha, and her “crying out” is heard by the king who appoints an official[3] to restore not only her land but also the revenue from the land in the time of her absence.

2 Kings 8: 7-15

  7 Elisha went to Damascus while King Ben-hadad of Aram was ill. When it was told him, “The man of God has come here,” 8 the king said to Hazael, “Take a present with you and go to meet the man of God. Inquire of the LORD through him, whether I shall recover from this illness.” 9 So Hazael went to meet him, taking a present with him, all kinds of goods of Damascus, forty camel loads. When he entered and stood before him, he said, “Your son King Ben-hadad of Aram has sent me to you, saying, ‘Shall I recover from this illness?’ ” 10 Elisha said to him, “Go, say to him, ‘You shall certainly recover,’ but the LORD has shown me that he shall certainly die.” 11 He fixed his gaze and stared at him to the point of embarrassment. Then the man of God wept. 12 Hazael asked, “Why does my lord weep?” He answered, “Because I know the evil that you will do to the people of Israel; you will set their fortresses on fire; you will kill their young men with the sword, dash in pieces their little ones, and rip up their pregnant women.” 13 Hazael said, “What is your servant, who is a mere dog, that he should do this great thing?” Elisha answered, “The LORD has shown me that you are to be king over Aram.” 14 Then he left Elisha and went to his master Ben-hadad, who said to him, “What did Elisha say to you?” And he answered, “He told me that you would certainly recover.” 15 But the next day he took the bedcover and dipped it in water and spread it over the king’s face, until he died. And Hazael succeeded him.

The prophet Elijah when he was instructed to anoint Elisha to be prophet in his place was also commanded to appoint Hazael as king over Aram and Jehu as king over Israel (1 Kings 19: 15-17). Elijah did call Elisha, but now it is Elisha who is engaged in Hazael’s ascension to power in Damascus. The story is an inversion of the story in 2 Kings 1 where King Ahaziah, king in Samaria, sends to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron. While the king of Israel appeals to the god of Ekron, now a foreign king appeals to the prophet of Israel to inquire of the LORD his God. Yet, this inquiry of Ben-hadad sets in motion his demise despite the affirmative answer of the prophet. The prophetic messenger appoints Hazael to do the work that prophets do not do. The involvement of the prophet in both a lie and the politics of a foreign power has caused discomfort for some readers.

In the scriptures God often works through foreign powers, even if these powers are unaware of their participation in God’s action of judgment or deliverance. Hazael, the servant of Ben-hadad approaches the prophet with a large gift for this emissary of the God of Israel, but unlike Naaman’s large gift we never learn the disposition of the forty camel loads of gifts offered to the prophet. Hazael is informed of his role even though the prophet regrets the damage he will do to the people of Israel. Although Elisha gives Hazael the message that the king will recover from the illness, he also sets in motion a chain of events that lead to King Ben-hadad’s death at the hands of his servant. The prophet Amos views Hazael’s ascension as God’s act as well, but as a judgment on Ben-hadad (Amos 1: 3-4) but in Elisha’s view what is important is Hazael’s actions towards Israel. Following the original commissioning of Elijah to set Hazael over Aram and Jehu over Israel, both Aram and Jehu (and Elisha) are the swords that shall kill many. Many modern readers recoil at the violence of the actions attributed to Hazael in the prophet’s words, but war in the ancient world was violent. War of all times is violent, and innocent people often pay a heavy cost but armies in the ancient world did not act with the same restraint that modern militaries do in attempting to limit the destructiveness of the soldiers unleashed to practice violence on the enemy land and people. Hazael acknowledges that the violence the prophet describes would be a “great thing” and his only protest is that he is too insignificant to be able to accomplish this great thing. God has designated Hazael as a part of God’s plan for Israel, but Hazael is a blunt instrument that will incur a lot of damage in the removal of the Omri dynasty.

Elisha may weep for the future that he sees but he remains faithful to God’s vision. The ways of the Omri dynasty have led the people of Israel away to following other gods and unjust practices. Elisha may have wrestled with his role in being a part of the (ultimately) violent solution to the wicked (in the view of 2 Kings) kings of Israel who have now corrupted even the line of kings in Judah (see below). Many of the stories of Elisha have shown him working with individuals and groups in miraculous ways to help them navigate this world of famines and sieges. Yet, the narrative of 2 Kings attempts to understand how God is at work in the collapse of both Israel and Judah working through Aram, Assyria, and Babylon. Hazael, son of a nobody, as a large basalt statue of Shalmaneser refers to him derogatorily, (Cogan, 1988, p. 90) may not be anointed by Elisha in this story, but Elisha gives him the vision that leads to the suffocation of his ailing master and allows the son of a nobody to grasp power in Aram and to become God’s blunt instrument utilized in the judgment of Israel.

2 Kings 8: 16-29

  16 In the fifth year of King Joram son of Ahab of Israel, Jehoram son of King Jehoshaphat of Judah began to reign. 17 He was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. 18 He walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done, for the daughter of Ahab was his wife. He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD. 19 Yet the LORD would not destroy Judah, for the sake of his servant David, since he had promised to give a lamp to him and to his descendants forever.
  20 In his days Edom revolted against the rule of Judah and set up a king of their own. 21 Then Joram crossed over to Zair with all his chariots. He set out by night and attacked the Edomites and their chariot commanders who had surrounded him, but his army fled home. 22 So Edom has been in revolt against the rule of Judah to this day. Libnah also revolted at the same time. 23 Now the rest of the acts of Joram and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Annals of the Kings of Judah? 24 So Joram slept with his ancestors and was buried with them in the city of David; his son Ahaziah succeeded him.

  25 In the twelfth year of King Joram son of Ahab of Israel, Ahaziah son of King Jehoram of Judah began to reign. 26 Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he began to reign; he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Athaliah, a granddaughter of King Omri of Israel. 27 He also walked in the way of the house of Ahab, doing what was evil in the sight of the LORD, as the house of Ahab had done, for he was son-in-law to the house of Ahab.
  28 He went with Joram son of Ahab to wage war against King Hazael of Aram at Ramoth-gilead, where the Arameans wounded Joram. 29 King Joram returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds that the Arameans had inflicted on him at Ramah, when he fought against King Hazael of Aram. King Ahaziah son of Jehoram of Judah went down to see Joram son of Ahab in Jezreel because he was wounded.

The bulk of the first eight chapters of 2 Kings have broken from the typical construction of the story around the reigns of kings and has focused instead on the end of the prophet Elijah’s story and then multiple stories centered on the prophet Elisha. We will return to Elisha for a few final stories, but the narrator of 2 Kings returns us to the timeline of kings, particularly the kings in Judah. The narration of the book of kings has focused almost entirely on the northern kingdom of Samaria or Israel since the reign of Jehoshaphat in Judah in 1 Kings 22: 41-51. In contrast to his father and grandfather who followed the ways of the LORD, Jehoram[4] the new king of Judah follows the ways of the kings of Israel and is allied with these kings by marriage to Athaliah, a sister of king Joram of Israel. Like Jezebel, king Ahab’s wife, Athaliah is viewed as a corrupting influence upon both Jehoram and her son Ahaziah.

2 Chronicles reports a letter from Elijah to Jehoram:

12 A letter came to him from the prophet Elijah, saying, “Thus says the LORD, the God of your father David: Because you have not walked in the ways of your father Jehoshaphat or in the ways of King Asa of Judah 13 but have walked in the way of the kings of Israel and have led Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem into unfaithfulness, as the house of Ahab led Israel into unfaithfulness, and because you also have killed your brothers, members of your father’s house, who were better than you, 14 see, the LORD will bring a great plague on your people, your children, your wives, and all your possessions, 15 and you yourself will have a severe sickness with a disease of your bowels until your bowels come out, day after day, because of the disease.” 2 Chronicles 21:12-14

Both 2 Chronicles and 2 Kings view the time of Jehoram as a time which corrupted the house of David and jeopardized the enduring line promised to David. God restrains the judgement on these two unfaithful kings of Judah because of God’s loyalty to David, but Judah is in danger of becoming like the north.

Kings in the ancient world[5] are judged by their ability to maintain power and here we see the beginning of a deterioration of Judah’s control of Edom as well as one of its own cities. The narrative sets the infidelity toward the LORD of these two kings of Judah alongside their loss of power over their vassals. Readers can make a judgement about the connection between their inability to project power over their vassals and their unfaithfulness to the LORD (Brueggemann, 2000, p. 375) but the theological perspective of the narrator of 2 Kings would probably view them as connected. Alex Israel suggests that Libnah, as a Levite city, may have been demonstrating against the idolatrous religious orientation of Jehoram (Israel, 2019, p. 159) and while there were likely Levites and other people faithful to the LORD who were distressed about the direction of Judah under Jehoram and Ahaziah it is probably unlikely that one city would simply separate itself from Judah without the intervention of other powers. However, Alex Israel’s description of Judah under Jehoram is pointed and accurate:

we may certainly summarize his dismal eight-year reign as a period of national disintegration: religious deviation, internecine royal infighting, a collapse of regional influence, and failure to defend his country’s borders. Judah is in decline on all fronts. (Israel, 2019, p. 159)

The introduction of Ahaziah’s brief reign over Judah sets the stage for the violent transitions in Samaria and Jerusalem in the next three chapters. King Joram is wounded in battle like his father Ahab (1 Kings 22: 29-40) and Ahaziah goes to visit him at this critical moment where Elisha anoints Jehu which brings about the ending of the Omri dynasty and the violent transition in Jerusalem.

[1] See the discussion on skin disease/leprosy in chapter five.

[2] The Hebrew za’aq as Brueggemann notes is frequently used of those who are abused or oppressed “crying out” to God or someone who can intervene on their behalf. (Brueggemann, 2000, p. 366)

[3] Mordechai Cogan and Hayim Tadmor note that saris means ‘eunuch’ based on linguistic evidence. (Cogan, 1988, p. 112)

[4] Both Jehoram and Joram have the same name, they are differentiated in translations to make it easier to refer to these kings in Samaria and Judah which reign concurrently.

[5] The bible, particularly 1&2 Kings, evaluates kings on a completely different set of values, but in general kings in the ancient world were supposed to maintain or increase their territory and wealth. Wealth was primarily generated through land as a producer of agriculture, livestock, and mineral resources.

2 Kings 6:24-7:20 The Siege and Deliverance of Samaria

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Hills Near the Ruins of Samaria By Daniel Ventura – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=32449397

2 Kings 6:24-7:2

24 Some time later King Ben-hadad of Aram mustered his entire army; he marched against Samaria and laid siege to it. 25 As the siege continued, famine in Samaria became so great that a donkey’s head was sold for eighty shekels of silver and one-fourth of a kab of dove’s dung for five shekels of silver. 26 Now as the king of Israel was walking on the city wall, a woman cried out to him, “Help, my lord king!” 27 He said, “If the LORD does not help you, where would my help come from? From the threshing floor or from the winepress?” 28 But then the king asked her, “What is your complaint?” She answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give up your son; we will eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.’ 29 So we cooked my son and ate him. The next day I said to her, ‘Give up your son, and we will eat him.’ But she has hidden her son.” 30 When the king heard the words of the woman he tore his clothes—now since he was walking on the city wall, the people could see that he had sackcloth on his body underneath 31 and he said, “So may God do to me and more, if the head of Elisha son of Shaphat stays on his shoulders today.” 32 So he dispatched a man from his presence.
  Now Elisha was sitting in his house, and the elders were sitting with him. Before the messenger arrived, Elisha said to the elders, “Are you aware that this murderer has sent someone to take off my head? When the messenger comes, see that you shut the door and hold it closed against him. Is not the sound of his master’s feet behind him?” 33 While he was still speaking with them, the king came down to him and said, “This trouble is from the LORD! Why should I hope in the LORD any longer?”

71 But Elisha said, “Hear the word of the LORD: Thus says the Lord: Tomorrow about this time a measure of choice meal shall be sold for a shekel and two measures of barley for a shekel, at the gate of Samaria.” 2 Then the captain on whose hand the king leaned said to the man of God, “Even if the LORD were to make windows in the sky, could such a thing happen?” But he said, “You shall see it with your own eyes, but you shall not eat from it.”

The final seven verses of chapter six are connected to the story that continues through the seventh chapter of 2 Kings. The verses and chapters were added at a later point, and the chapter division highlights the prophecy of Elisha by bookending the seventh chapter, but the narrative which evokes the word of the LORD begins at verse twenty-four. One of the Aramean kings named Ben-hadad[1] lays siege to Samaria creating the severe crisis of the story.

Siege warfare works by denying the encircled city the resources it needs to survive while the surrounding army has access to food from the land and if necessary, brought in from the besieging country. The first to feel the impact of the food shortages are the poor and the vulnerable as the cost of the food necessary to survive climbs as the supply dwindles. In our story the cost of once unpalatable foods has reached a point unreachable to all but the wealthiest households. The ‘dove’s dung’ has a couple possible interpretations. It may be the droppings from birds who are able to eat from the grain fields that the population no longer has access to, and this may form a disgusting but necessary source of nutrition for the captured population. Some translations like the NEB and NJPS follow a linguistic trail to translate this as the “seeds of the (false) carob” which is a plant of limited nutritional value. However one translates the ‘dove’s dung,’ the situation in the city has become desperate to the point where hunger is creating an inhumane situation.

The woman at the wall who calls upon the king of Israel for help is met with a pious sounding answer, “If the LORD does not help you, where would my help come from.” To me this resonates like the empty ‘thoughts and prayers’ of a politician who has no interest in resolving the crisis of the individual who comes to them for help. Yet, in Israel there is a tradition of people coming to their kings to judge difficult and life changing matters and the kings of Israel are supposed to be guardians of the vulnerable. This story resonates with Solomon’s judging between the two women fighting over a child in 1 Kings 3: 16-28, but in this story of famine now the women are fighting over children to be eaten in their starvation. The situation echoes the darkest warnings against disobedience in Deuteronomy 28: 52-57:

52 It shall besiege you in all your towns until your high and fortified walls, in which you trusted, come down throughout your land; it shall besiege you in all your towns throughout the land that the LORD your God has given you. 53 In the desperate straits to which the enemy siege reduces you, you will eat the fruit of your womb, the flesh of your own sons and daughters whom the LORD your God has given you. 54 Even the most refined and gentle of men among you will begrudge food to his own brother, to the wife whom he embraces, and to the last of his remaining children, 55 giving to none of them any of the flesh of his children whom he is eating, because nothing else remains to him, in the desperate straits to which the enemy siege will reduce you in all your towns. 56 She who is the most refined and gentle among you, so gentle and refined that she does not venture to set the sole of her foot on the ground, will begrudge food to the husband whom she embraces, to her own son, and to her own daughter, 57 begrudging even the afterbirth that comes out from between her thighs, and the children that she bears, because she is eating them in secret for lack of anything else, in the desperate straits to which the enemy siege will reduce you in your towns.

The woman’s situation in this siege echoes the narration of the later siege of Jerusalem by Babylon in Ezekiel 5:10 and Lamentations 2:20 and 4:10. It is a world where the bond between mother and child has been broken by hunger and people lose their humanity in the horror of the siege. The king who has been sheltered from the worst aspects of the deprivation of the siege is horrified by the woman’s situation and yet still claims no power to alleviate her condition. The stores of grain and wine even for the king are likely depleted and we learn that he is wearing sackcloth, a sign of mourning and repentance, under his clothes which he tears on hearing the woman’s story. In response he rashly declares that he will kill Elisha.

Elisha may be the target of the king’s rage as the representative of the LORD who the king of Israel blames for this unbroken siege, or he may simply be a scapegoat in the king’s powerlessness. Elisha did in the previous chapter deliver into Samaria an Aramean army who he instructed the king to feed and allow them to depart in peace. The peace which Elisha brokered did not endure and the king of Israel may blame the prophet for the situation. It is also possible that the king feels that the prophet, who has provided food miraculously, has not performed a miracle to provide food for the suffering city. If this unnamed king of Israel is Jehoram, as the order of the stories implies, there is a long animosity between the Omri dynasty that Jehoram is a member of and Elijah as well as Elisha. It is possible that the king has never approached the prophet until this point in the siege although it is worth noting that the elders are with the prophet during this scene.

The story becomes a bit confused in verses 32-33 where a messenger arrives and later the king. Mordechai Cogan and Hayim Tadmor point to Josephus’ reconstruction of the events as being as sensible as any:

“But you,” (Elisha) said, “when the man arrives who has been given this order be on guard as he is about to enter, and press him back against the door and hold him there, for the king will follow him and come to me, having changed his mind.” So, when the man came who had been sent by the king to make away with Elisha, they did as he had ordered. But Joram, repenting of his wrath against the prophet and fearing that the man who had been ordered to kill him might already be doing so, hastened to prevent the murder and even save the prophet. Antiquities ix, 69-70. (Cogan, 1988, pp. 80-81)

Despite the king’s earlier murderous words, the king, the prophet, and the elders all share in hearing the word of the LORD that Elisha receives declaring that the crisis will end suddenly in roughly twenty-four hours. The immediate availability of cheap food prophesied is unbelievable to the captain of the king, and Elisha adds a final note that this captain will see the prophecy fulfilled but be unable to partake in it.

2 Kings 7:3-20

  3 Now there were four men with a defiling skin disease outside the city gate who said to one another, “Why should we sit here until we die? 4 If we say, ‘Let us enter the city,’ the famine is in the city, and we shall die there, but if we sit here, we shall also die. Therefore, let us desert to the Aramean camp; if they spare our lives, we shall live, and if they kill us, we shall but die.” 5 So they arose at twilight to go to the Aramean camp, but when they came to the edge of the Aramean camp there was no one there at all. 6 For the Lord had caused the Aramean army to hear the sound of chariots and of horses, the sound of a great army, so that they said to one another, “The king of Israel has hired the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Egypt to fight against us.” 7 So they fled away in the twilight and abandoned their tents, their horses, and their donkeys, leaving the camp just as it was, and fled for their lives. 8 When these diseased men had come to the edge of the camp, they went into a tent, ate and drank, carried off silver, gold, and clothing, and went and hid them. Then they came back, entered another tent, carried off things from it and went and hid them.
  9 Then they said to one another, “What we are doing is wrong. This is a day of good news; if we are silent and wait until the morning light, we will be found guilty; therefore let us go and tell the king’s household.” 10 So they came and called to the gatekeepers of the city and told them, “We went to the Aramean camp, but there was no one to be seen or heard there, nothing but the horses tied, the donkeys tied, and the tents as they were.” 11 Then the gatekeepers called out and proclaimed it to the king’s household. 12 The king got up in the night and said to his servants, “I will tell you what the Arameans have prepared against us. They know that we are starving, so they left the camp to hide themselves in the open country, thinking, ‘When they come out of the city, we shall take them alive and get into the city.’ ” 13 One of his servants said, “Let some men take five of the remaining horses, since those left here will suffer the fate of the whole multitude of Israel that have perished already; let us send and find out.” 14 So they took two mounted men, and the king sent them after the Aramean army, saying, “Go and find out.” 15 So they went after them as far as the Jordan; the whole way was littered with garments and equipment that the Arameans had thrown away in their haste. So the messengers returned and told the king.
  16 Then the people went out and plundered the camp of the Arameans. So a measure of choice meal was sold for a shekel and two measures of barley for a shekel, according to the word of the LORD. 17 Now the king had appointed the captain on whose hand he leaned to have charge of the gate; the people trampled him to death in the gate, just as the man of God had said when the king came down to him. 18 For when the man of God had said to the king, “Two measures of barley shall be sold for a shekel and a measure of choice meal for a shekel, about this time tomorrow in the gate of Samaria,” 19 the captain had answered the man of God, “Even if the LORD were to make windows in the sky, could such a thing happen?” And he had answered, “You shall see it with your own eyes, but you shall not eat from it.” 20 It did indeed happen to him; the people trampled him to death in the gate.

The resolution to the crisis begins in the desperation of four men who are unclean and left outside the city. As mentioned above it is the vulnerable, and these four men with an affliction traditionally translated as leprosy would be vulnerable as they are excluded outside the city’s protective walls. In a situation where staying where they are would lead to death and entering the city would lead to death, they make the choice to surrender to the Arameans because the worst they can do is kill them. This decision to give up to the besieging forces sets in motion the deliverance of Samaria.

I have mixed feelings about the NRSVue decision throughout these texts to translate what is traditionally rendered ‘leprosy’ as a ‘defiling skin disease’ or ‘skin disease.’ On the one hand, what we now categorize as leprosy or Hansen’s disease is probably not what is referred to throughout the bible. But I wonder if the more generic skin disease disconnects the average reader from the severity of this diagnosis in the ancient world of Judaism. It is telling that Leviticus thirteen and fourteen are dedicated to the identification, the exclusion of the infected individuals from the community, and the necessary examination to allow their re-inclusion if the skin disorder clears up. These lepers are ‘unclean’ and unable to participate in the life of the community. Yet these outsiders will provide deliverance for the people trapped inside the city.

Before the four men approach the camp, the Arameans flee in panic because they hear the sound of horses and chariots approaching and fear that the king of Israel has paid Egypt and the Hittites to come and break the siege for them. The horses and chariots echo the appearance of the ‘horses and chariots of Israel’ in the previous story (2 Kings 6:15) and now instead of opening the eyes of the servant the LORD in a different manner opens the ears of the Arameans. The panic of the Arameans in the story is enough that they abandon not only their encampment but also their horses and donkey and leave a trail of discarded items in the path of their retreat. There are resources and wealth to feed and equip an army surrounding the city, much of the food likely taken from Israel’s fields, and there waiting to be discovered by the starving city.

The Jewish sages identified the four men with Gehazi and his sons (Israel, 2019, p. 129) which makes sense with this story being between Gehazi having Naaman’s leprosy cling to him and his family (2 Kings 5:27) and Gehazi’s reemergence talking with the king in the upcoming chapter (2 Kings 8: 4-5). This identification while interesting is not necessary for the story as these four men proceed to the camp, find it empty, ate and drank, pillaged some of the wealth they found, and eventually notify the gatekeepers of the situation. These men excluded as outsiders because of their skin condition still consider themselves a part of the people and have an obligation to those suffering inside the city. They appeal through the gatekeeper to the king’s household.

The king initially views this report from the four men as a trap set by the Aramean army to draw him out, but eventually one of his servants convinces the king to send out scouts with horses to examine the situation, lest the remaining horses perish with the people inside the city. Once the messengers return to the king it sets in motion the availability of food promised by the prophecy of Elisha as well as the death of the captain of the king. As mentioned in the previous section, the current chapter divisions highlight the words of Elisha at the beginning and ending of the chapter to demonstrate their fulfillment. A siege which reduced men and women to inhuman actions is now ended by four men whose humanity is compromised by the unclean disease carried on their skin. The God of Israel’s unseen host is now heard by the Aramean causing them to abandon their siege and to provide the food the city needs. The prophet once blamed by the king for the situation inside the city has now accurately predicted the cities deliverance by the LORD the God of Israel.

[1] Mordechai Cogan and Hayim Tadmor note there are at least two and possibly three kings name Ben-Hadad,  whose name means the son of (the God) Hadad, “At least two, if not three persons by this name are known: Ben-hadad, contemporary of Baasha (1 Kgs 15:18); Ben-hadad, foe of Abab (1 Kgs 20: 1; he is identical with mAdad-idri of Assyrian inscriptions…and Ben-hadad, son of Hazael (2 Kgs 13:3).” (Cogan, 1988, p. 78)

2 Kings 6: 1-23 Floating Iron and Opened Eyes

2 Replies
‘Elisha makes the Axe Head Swim’ illustration from The story of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation (1873)

2 Kings 6: 1-7 

1 Now the company of prophets said to Elisha, “As you see, the place where we live under your charge is too small for us. 2 Let us go to the Jordan, and let us collect logs there, one for each of us, and build a place there for us to live.” He answered, “Do so.” 3 Then one of them said, “Please come with your servants.” And he answered, “I will.” 4 So he went with them. When they came to the Jordan, they cut down trees. 5 But as one was felling a log, his ax head fell into the water; he cried out, “Alas, master! It was borrowed.” 6 Then the man of God said, “Where did it fall?” When he showed him the place, he cut off a stick and threw it in there and made the iron float. 7 He said, “Pick it up.” So he reached out his hand and took it.

To the modern reader this may seem like a strange story to include among the miracles that are handed on about Elisha. In a world where an ax is a relatively inexpensive tool the loss of an ax head seems like a trivial matter to trouble the prophet Elisha with. But the world of Elisha’s time was very different from our world. At this time iron is a precious resource and smiths in ancient Israel would be rare. This was also a time when Israel is at war with Aram so most iron would be going to create weapons for the military of Israel. Much as the story of Elisha and the widow’s oil (2 Kings 4:1-7), the prophet’s action likely saved this member of the company of prophets from a debt they could not hope to repay. (NIB III: 199) Many of the stories in the previous two chapters have the company of prophets relying on the prophet Elisha to provide food in their want and Gehazi’s foolish (in the eyes of 2 Kings) request for recompense from Naaman (2 Kings 5: 19b-27) is also informed by the group’s poverty. Even if the neighbor who loaned the unfortunate man the ax would not attempt to collect the value of the lost tool, there is a strong concern for neighborly rights among the world envisioned in the Torah.

The story takes place at the Jordan geographically linking it to the previous healing of Naaman. At the Jordan Elisha provided healing for Naaman from his skin disease and relief for this fellow member of the company of prophets with the sunken ax head. Some scholars, both Jewish and Christians, have taken this story and attempted to create a non-miraculous version: the stick was cut to be able to fit into the aperture of the ax head or to have a flat surface for the ax head to rest on as the prophet lifts it out are two examples. Yet, to tell these stories the commenters in their desire to make the story more reasonable have missed the point that the man of God is able to do what others cannot. Elisha who can heal disease or provide adequate food can also through his connection with God make metal float and make an army captive.

2 Kings 6: 8-23

  8 Once when the king of Aram was at war with Israel, he took counsel with his officers. He said, “At such and such a place shall be my camp.” 9 But the man of God sent word to the king of Israel, “Take care not to pass this place, for the Arameans are going down there.” 10 The king of Israel sent word to the place of which the man of God spoke. More than once or twice he warned a place so that it was on the alert.
  11 The mind of the king of Aram was greatly perturbed because of this; he called his officers and said to them, “Now tell me: Who among us is betraying us to the king of Israel?” 12 Then one of his officers said, “No one, my lord king. It is Elisha, the prophet in Israel, who tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedchamber.” 13 He said, “Go and find where he is; I will send and seize him.” He was told, “He is in Dothan.” 14 So he sent horses and chariots there and a great army; they came by night and surrounded the city.
  15 When an attendant of the man of God rose early in the morning and went out, an army with horses and chariots was all around the city. His servant said, “Alas, master! What shall we do?” 16 He replied, “Do not be afraid, for there are more with us than there are with them.” 17 Then Elisha prayed, “O LORD, please open his eyes that he may see.” So the LORD opened the eyes of the servant, and he saw; the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. 18 When the Arameans came down against him, Elisha prayed to the Lord and said, “Strike this people, please, with blindness.” So he struck them with blindness as Elisha had asked. 19 Elisha said to them, “This is not the way, and this is not the city; follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom you seek.” And he led them to Samaria.
  20 As soon as they entered Samaria, Elisha said, “O LORD, open the eyes of these men so that they may see.” The Lord opened their eyes, and they saw that they were inside Samaria. 21 When the king of Israel saw them he said to Elisha, “Father, shall I strike them? Shall I strike them?” 22 He answered, “No! Would you strike those whom you have taken captive with your sword and with your bow? Set food and water before them so that they may eat and drink, and let them go to their master.” 23 So he prepared for them a great feast; after they ate and drank, he sent them on their way, and they went to their master. And the Arameans no longer came raiding into the land of Israel.

The Arameans are a continual danger to the people of Israel throughout the end of 1 Kings and the beginning of 2 Kings. Yet, Elisha through the previous and following chapter will play a pivotal role in the conflict between the king of Aram and the king of Samaria. Through Naaman, these soldiers who are brought captive by the prophet to Samaria, and the eventual defeat of the siege of Samaria the Arameans will come to know that there is a prophet in Samaria who king Ben-hadad of Aram will eventually consult (2 Kings 8: 7-15). Also reappearing in this story are the ‘horsemen and chariots of Israel’ which are the host of Israel’s God which Elisha first saw at Elijah’s ascension.

The conflict between the king of Aram and the prophet is precipitated by the prophet’s repeated warning of the king of Israel of the movements of Aram’s armies. Convinced that one of his leaders is betraying him, he summons them and asks how this is occurring. One of his officers knows that it is Elisha that is handing on this information, and the king of Aram orders a force sent to seize the prophet from his current location at Dothan. What the king’s men and the prophet’s men are blind to is the ‘horsemen and chariots of Israel’ which are surrounding the prophet and are more numerous than the forces sent by the king of Aram. Apparently, one’s eyes must be opened to be able to see the host of the LORD and that is exactly what Elisha prays for his servant to receive.

Throughout the narrative the movement between blindness and sight plays a critical role. Elisha’s servant may be able to see the forces of Aram, but he is blind to the forces of the LORD who Elisha serves until his eyes are opened. The prophet was able to provide vision for the king of Israel to elude the maneuvers of the king of Aram’s army and so the king of Aram attempts to remove the eyes of Israel by eliminating the prophet. The armies of Aram are struck with blindness by the LORD and led by the prophet to Samaria where the prophet asks for their sight to be restored.

The story ends with the king of Israel asking whether he should strike down this army that has been delivered by the prophet into his city and the prophet opening his eyes to another way. The king of Israel did not capture the Arameans, and their lives are in the prophet’s hands, and the prophet shows a way of peace. The book of Proverbs states, “If your enemies are hungry, give them bread to eat; and if they are thirsty, give them water to drink.” Proverbs 25:21 The prophet models this way of wisdom for the king who prepares a great feast for his enemies, and this brings at least a pause to the conflicts between Israel and Aram. The story moved from blindness to sight and from conflict to peace. Just like Naaman would discover that there is a prophet in Samaria, now these soldiers of Aram would also know both the power of the prophet’s God and the rescue provided in their desperate situation.

2 Kings 5 Elisha Heals Naaman and Gehazi’s Poor Choice

3 Replies
Pieter de Grebber, Elisha Refusing Gifts From Naaman (1630) https://www.theleidencollection.com/artwork/elisha-refusing-naamans-gifts/

2 Kings 5: 1-19a 

1 Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Aram, was a great man and in high favor with his master because by him the Lord had given victory to Aram. The man, though a mighty warrior, suffered from a skin disease. 2 Now the Arameans on one of their raids had taken a young girl captive from the land of Israel, and she served Naaman’s wife. 3 She said to her mistress, “If only my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his skin disease.” 4 So Naaman went in and told his lord just what the girl from the land of Israel had said. 5 And the king of Aram said, “Go, then, and I will send along a letter to the king of Israel.”
  He went, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten sets of garments. 6 He brought the letter to the king of Israel, which read, “When this letter reaches you, know that I have sent to you my servant Naaman, that you may cure him of his skin disease.” 7 When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, “Am I God, to give death or life, that this man sends word to me to cure a man of his skin disease? Just look and see how he is trying to pick a quarrel with me.”
  8 But when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent a message to the king, “Why have you torn your clothes? Let him come to me, that he may learn that there is a prophet in Israel.” 9 So Naaman came with his horses and chariots and halted at the entrance of Elisha’s house. 10 Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go, wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored, and you shall be clean.” 11 But Naaman became angry and went away, saying, “I thought that for me he would surely come out and stand and call on the name of the LORD his God and would wave his hand over the spot and cure the skin disease! 12 Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?” He turned and went away in a rage. 13 But his servants approached and said to him, “Father, if the prophet had commanded you to do something difficult, would you not have done it? How much more, when all he said to you was, ‘Wash, and be clean’?” 14 So he went down and immersed himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God; his flesh was restored like the flesh of a young boy, and he was clean.
  15 Then he returned to the man of God, he and all his company; he came and stood before him and said, “Now I know that there is no God in all the earth except in Israel; please accept a present from your servant.” 16 But he said, “As the LORD lives, whom I serve, I will accept nothing!” He urged him to accept, but he refused. 17 Then Naaman said, “If not, please let two mule loads of earth be given to your servant, for your servant will no longer offer burnt offering or sacrifice to any god except the Lord. 18 But may the LORD pardon your servant on one count: when my master goes into the house of Rimmon to worship there, leaning on my arm, and I bow down in the house of Rimmon, when I do bow down in the house of Rimmon, may the LORD pardon your servant on this one count.” 19 He said to him, “Go in peace.”

The healing of Naaman, along with Elijah’s ascent in the whirlwind, are probably the two best-known and most frequently used stories from 2 Kings in the life of the church. This story, along with Elijah’s provision of meal and oil for the widow of Zarephath, is utilized in Luke 4:27 as an explanation for the expansiveness of Jesus’ ministry, but it is also paired with Jesus’ healing of lepers in the gospels. Naaman is both the victorious mighty warrior who occupies a privileged position with the king of Aram and has servants and slaves along with the access to considerable wealth and power, but in Israel he is also a Gentile, an unclean one, and an oppressor. The story illustrates the fundamental differences between the world envisioned by the king of Aram and Naaman at the beginning of the story and the prophet Elisha when he enters in the middle of the story.

The position of Naaman, in the view of 2 Kings, is a result of the LORD the God of Israel granting him victory leading the Arameans. On the one hand this provides an explanation for the defeat of Israel by a foreign power, the defeat is a judgment on the unfaithfulness of Samaria. On the other hand, it makes the mighty warrior subject, unknowingly at the beginning of the story, to the LORD the God of Israel. Even a captive young woman from Israel knows what this mighty warrior cannot, that the hope for healing resides in Samaria. This young woman who is a captive and the mighty man who is a leader of armies may be on opposite sides of the power differential but in the story they are linked. Captured slaves often have an unfavorable view of their masters, yet in Naaman throughout the story we see that this mighty man is both respected enough by his servants for them to speak truthfully and compassionately to him and Naaman as their master listens. The commander of warriors who can deliver victories depends upon the knowledge willingly shared by a captured young woman residing in his household.

The skin disease which has been traditionally translated as leprosy is probably not what we today categorize as leprosy (or Hansen’s disease) but it was something that ancient cultures took very seriously. Leviticus 13-14 deals with the priestly role in the diagnosis, the social implications for a person diagnosed with this skin disorder and the method that they can also be reintegrated into the community once they are healed. The seriousness of the disease can be demonstrated by the incredible amount of wealth (ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten sets of garments)[1] which the king of Aram sends to the king of Israel to bring about the healing of his favored commander.

In the ancient world there was no concept of separation of religious and state powers. For most ancient kings, even in Israel, there are religious figures including prophets in the royal court. The prophet Nathan was involved in the court of king David, and earlier in the Omri dynasty we saw the conflict between the prophets who spoke favorably to king Ahab and Micaiah who was a faithful prophet of the LORD but not in royal favor. As Alex Israel notes about the contrasting views of prophets between the kings of Aram and Israel:

The king of Aram was incapable of imagining a scenario in which the prophet would not be fundamentally subordinate to the king, and so he sought the prophet by means of the latter. By contrast, the king of Israel couldn’t conceive a situation in which the prophet would be responsive to his control, and so he failed to entertain the prospect of appealing to Elisha! (Israel, 2019, p. 98)

The king of Aram views the king of Israel as his subordinate who he can command, but Elisha does not answer to the king of Israel. Yet, Elisha does hear of the king’s distress and instructs him to send Naaman to him.

Naaman has probably encountered other healers and prophets in Damascus who attempted to heal his skin disease, and he has ideas of how that process should look for a person of his station. As a person of high status, he anticipated personal attention from the prophet. His status as a mighty warrior and commander of the armies of Aram have allowed him to be a person who is able to fulfill their request, but now he finds that this status means nothing before the prophet, and he is reduced to a “supplicant who comes to the healer as a leper.” (Brueggemann, 2000, p. 334) Yet, as previously we saw with the young woman from Israel, Naaman is a master who his servants are willing to speak to in an honest and compassionate way. Once Naaman has completed his complaint about the command delivered by an emissary to wash in the Jordan, his servants are able to convince him that the prophet has not asked a hard thing, and it is in Naaman’s interest to attempt this novel cure.

The washing in the Jordan results in Naaman’s skin becoming like a young boy. The description of Naaman’s skin utilizing the masculine form of the words used to describe the young girl at the beginning of the story now link the two together. In some way Naaman is now like this enslaved young woman even though they occupy vastly different places in the social hierarchy. Both stand in a place of dependency before God and Naaman has not only learned that there is a prophet in Samaria, but that there is no God in all the earth except in Israel.

After the healing Naaman stands, with all his company before the prophet Elisha. Naaman attempts to offer payment, but Elisha swears that he will take no payment.[2] Naaman then makes two requests when payment continues to be refused. First Naaman requests to take two mule loads of earth. Naaman likely believes that the God of Israel is tied to the land of Israel and bringing the earth will allow him to build an altar or worship space where he can access this God whom he has discovered. Secondly, he requests that in his state functions that God would not hold it against him when he escorts his master into the worship space of Rimmon, the god of Damascus. Elisha does not judge Naaman for these requests and instructs him to depart in shalom.

2 Kings 5: 19b-27

  But when Naaman had gone from him a short distance, 20 Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, thought, “My master has let that Aramean Naaman off too lightly by not accepting from him what he offered. As the LORD lives, I will run after him and get something from him.” 21 So Gehazi went after Naaman. When Naaman saw someone running after him, he jumped down from the chariot to meet him and said, “Is everything all right?” 22 He replied, “Yes, but my master has sent me to say, ‘Two members of a company of prophets have just come to me from the hill country of Ephraim; please give them a talent of silver and two changes of clothing.’ ” 23 Naaman said, “Please accept two talents.” He urged him and tied up two talents of silver in two bags, with two changes of clothing, and gave them to two of his servants, who carried them in front of Gehazi. 24 When he came to the citadel, he took the bags from them and stored them inside; he dismissed the men, and they left.
  25 He went in and stood before his master, and Elisha said to him, “Where have you been, Gehazi?” He answered, “Your servant has not gone anywhere at all.” 26 But he said to him, “Did I not go with you in spirit when someone left his chariot to meet you? Is this a time to accept silver and to accept clothing, olive orchards and vineyards, sheep and oxen, and male and female slaves? 27 Therefore the skin disease of Naaman shall cling to you and to your descendants forever.” So he left his presence diseased, as white as snow.

The stories of the previous chapter seem to indicate that the company of prophets (or sons of the prophets) continually struggle with poverty and this may inform Gehazi’s action contrary to his master Elisha. As Choon-Leong Seow remarks, “the faithfulness of Naaman’s slave girl at the beginning of the story stands in stark contrast to the treachery of Elisha’s servant at the end of the chapter.” (NIB III:192) While Elisha swore an oath (“as the LORD lives”) that he would accept no gift (literally blessing) from Naaman his servant Gehazi swears an oath that he will take something from this Gentile. Gehazi runs after Naaman’s party and Naaman, after dismounting his chariot asks, “Is all shalom?” Gehazi gives a reason for wanting a blessing/payment from Naaman, which Naaman is eager to grant giving double the initial request. For Naaman this is far less than the ten talents of silver he was willing to pay as payment for healing, but the roughly one hundred fifty pounds of silver with two sets of garments[3] which two of Naaman’s servants carry back to the citadel would be an incredible amount of wealth among the company of prophets. Yet, Gehazi’s secret is known by Elisha and the Hebrew indicates that Elisha’s heart went with Gehazi (NRSV ‘spirit’). Silver and clothing, land and livestock, servants and slaves for the company of the prophets is not where their security comes from. Gehazi has trusted in the same things that the king of Aram and Naaman trusted, and Elisha indicates that now Naaman’s skin disease will cling to Gehazi and his descendants.

The healing of Naaman does not end the conflict between Aram and Samaria which will continue in the narrative of the next two chapters. It is also not the end of Gehazi’s role in the story who will reappear in chapter eight. It is possible that the healing of Naaman is brought forward in the story to be a part of an Elisha cycle of miracles which reaches its peak with the thwarting of the king of Aram’s invasion of Israel. The king of Israel’s inability to heal his servant did not provide the provocation for a continued war, but ultimately the healing of Naaman did not end the conflict between Samaria and Damascus.

[1] The NIV notes that 10 shekels of silver is about 750 lbs (340 kg) of silver and 6,000 shekels of gold is about 150 lbs (70 kg).

[2] Numbers 22:18 and Daniel 5:17 are both times where two very different prophets (Balaam and Daniel) indicate that gold will not be acceptable to earn favor or as payment for a servant of the LORD.

[3] Garments in the ancient world are also expensive and an indicator of wealth.

2 Kings 4 A Series of Miracles Performed by Elisha

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Carmelite chapel – “Elisha resurrecting the son of the Shunammitee” by Jean-Baptiste Despax (1710-1773)

2 Kings 4:1-7

 1 Now the wife of a member of the company of prophets cried to Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the LORD, but a creditor has come to take my two children as slaves.” 2 Elisha said to her, “What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?” She answered, “Your servant has nothing in the house except a jar of oil.” 3 He said, “Go outside, borrow vessels from all your neighbors, empty vessels—and not just a few. 4 Then go in, shut the door behind you and your children, and start pouring into all these vessels; when each is full, set it aside.” 5 So she left him and shut the door behind her and her children; they kept bringing vessels to her, and she kept pouring. 6 When the vessels were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another vessel.” But he said to her, “There are no more.” Then the oil stopped flowing. 7 She came and told the man of God, and he said, “Go sell the oil and pay your debts, and you and your children can live on the rest.”

The fourth chapter of 2 Kings again departs from the normal royal time that structures the book. Throughout these four stories of miracles that Elisha performs the kings of Israel and Judah are never mentioned. The four stories all have thematic connections with the miracles of Elijah and the widow of Zarephath in 1 Kings 17: 8-24 and the four miracle stories where Elijah has two may thematically model the doubling of Elijah’s spirit that Elisha received as his prophetic heir. The stories can be viewed within the chapter as two stories related women and their children and two stories of providing food, of as two stories of miraculous provision which surround two stories of rescue from death. Ultimately all four stories weave together in a tapestry of stories about the man of God who leads the company of prophets.[1]

The kings of Israel and Judah are not ever mentioned in these stories, but in their absence we get in this first story a window into the world at the time of Elisha and the view is not flattering. The story provides, “a disturbing glance of the cruel socioeconomic reality of ancient Israel.” (Israel, 2019, p. 65) A world that is strikingly different from the world imagined in the law. A world in which widows, one of the vulnerable groups in the ancient world, and their children stand vulnerable to creditors. In Exodus widows, along with resident aliens and orphans, are mentioned as recipients of God’s special protection.

You shall not abuse any widow or orphan. If you do abuse them, when they cry out to me, I will surely hear their cry; my wrath will burn, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall become widows and orphans. Exodus 22: 22-24

This entire story responds to this small portion of Exodus 22 when the oppressor in the story turns out to be a creditor/moneylender (Hebrew nosheh) which is mentioned in the verses immediately following Exodus’ warning not to abuse widows and orphans.

If you lend money to my people, to the poor among you, you shall not deal with them as a creditor (nosheh); you shall not exact interest from them. If you take your neighbor’s cloak in pawn, you shall restore it before the sun goes down; for it may be your neighbor’s only clothing to use as cover; in what else shall that person sleep? And if your neighbor cries out to me, I will listen, for I am compassionate. Exodus 22: 25-27

The company of prophets throughout these stories seem to operate from a place of poverty, and there is no economic ability within the community to pay off the creditor without the miracle. This is a story of provision that comes from God acting through the man of God.[2] Interestingly throughout these stories Elisha rarely mentions God and assumes that God will act upon his words.

The action that Elisha narrates for the woman does involve both participation from herself and her children, the community of people around them, and most importantly God. The woman and her children are to collect vessels from the surrounding community. Although the text does not specifically indicate that she does this[3] there are an unknown number of vessels available for her and her children to fill behind closed doors.[4] The oil in the house fills all the available vessels and provides a means to paying off the creditors, providing a source of income for the widow and her children, and providing protection in an world that would enslave the children for their father’s debts.

2 Kings 4: 8-37


  8 One day Elisha was passing through Shunem, where a wealthy woman lived, who urged him to have a meal. So whenever he passed that way, he would stop there for a meal. 9 She said to her husband, “Look, I am sure that this man who regularly passes our way is a holy man of God. 10 Let us make a small roof chamber with walls and put there for him a bed, a table, a chair, and a lamp, so that he can stay there whenever he comes to us.”
  11 One day when he came there, he went up to the chamber and lay down there. 12 He said to his servant Gehazi, “Call the Shunammite woman.” When he had called her, she stood before him. 13 He said to him, “Say to her: Since you have taken all this trouble for us, what may be done for you? Would you have a word spoken on your behalf to the king or to the commander of the army?” She answered, “I live among my own people.” 14 He said, “What then may be done for her?” Gehazi answered, “Well, she has no son, and her husband is old.” 15 He said, “Call her.” When he had called her, she stood at the door. 16 He said, “At this season, in due time, you shall embrace a son.” She replied, “No, my lord, O man of God; do not deceive your servant.”
  17 The woman conceived and bore a son at that season, in due time, as Elisha had declared to her.
  18 When the child was older, he went out one day to his father among the reapers. 19 He complained to his father, “Oh, my head, my head!” The father said to his servant, “Carry him to his mother.” 20 He carried him and brought him to his mother; the child sat on her lap until noon, and he died. 21 She went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God, closed the door on him, and left. 22 Then she called to her husband and said, “Send me one of the servants and one of the donkeys, so that I may quickly go to the man of God and come back again.” 23 He said, “Why go to him today? It is neither new moon nor Sabbath.” She said, “It will be all right.” 24 Then she saddled the donkey and said to her servant, “Urge the animal on; do not hold back for me unless I tell you.” 25 So she set out and came to the man of God at Mount Carmel.
  When the man of God saw her coming, he said to Gehazi his servant, “Look, there is the Shunammite woman; 26 run at once to meet her and say to her: Are you all right? Is your husband all right? Is the child all right?” She answered, “It is all right.” 27 When she came to the man of God at the mountain, she caught hold of his feet. Gehazi approached to push her away, but the man of God said, “Let her alone, for she is in bitter distress; the LORD has hidden it from me and has not told me.” 28 Then she said, “Did I ask my lord for a son? Did I not say, ‘Do not mislead me?’ ” 29 He said to Gehazi, “Gird up your loins, and take my staff in your hand, and go. If you meet anyone, give no greeting, and if anyone greets you, do not answer, and lay my staff on the face of the child.” 30 Then the mother of the child said, “As the Lord lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave without you.” So he rose up and followed her. 31 Gehazi went on ahead and laid the staff on the face of the child, but there was no sound or sign of life. He came back to meet him and told him, “The child has not awakened.”
  32 When Elisha came into the house, he saw the child lying dead on his bed. 33 So he went in and closed the door on the two of them and prayed to the LORD. 34 Then he got up on the bed and lay upon the child, putting his mouth upon his mouth, his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands, and while he lay bent over him, the flesh of the child became warm. 35 He got down, walked once to and fro in the room, then got up again and bent over him; the child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes. 36 Elisha summoned Gehazi and said, “Call the Shunammite woman.” So he called her. When she came to him, he said, “Take your son.” 37 She came and fell at his feet, bowing to the ground; then she took her son and left.

Elisha, traveling through the country of Israel, becomes a regular guest of a well-off woman and her husband. This woman shows hospitality to the man of God by providing both a meal and eventually building a room for the prophet and his companions. Elisha seeks to reward the hospitality of the woman and her husband by speaking to the political and military powers in the region, but she has no need to have the prophet speak on her behalf. This woman seems to be a formidable individual even though she is childless. Gehazi, the servant of Elisha, suggests that she is childless and her husband is old, so Elisha promises her in due time she will bear a son.

This story bears a strong resonance with the story of Sarah being promised Isaac in Genesis 18. God promises to return in due season and Sarah will have a child. Sarah challenges God by saying, “I did not laugh,” while this wealthy woman pushes back to the prophet, “do not deceive your servant.” In both stories both age and barrenness are a factor. Yet, in both cases in due season a child comes to a previously childless mother and an aged father.

Yet, after this incredible birth comes an unimaginable tragedy. The promised son mysteriously experiences pain in his head at a time when he is old enough to visit his father in the fields. He dies tragically on his mother’s lap; she lays him on the prophet’s bed and moves into action. This woman gives commands to her husband to provide both a donkey and a servant for her journey to the prophet[5] and this woman sets out do demand the man of God’s presence in this time. Like the story in 1 Kings 17, where the widow goes to Elijah on behalf of her son, it is the woman who impels the man of God to act.

Behind the woman’s response and the prophet’s questions of things being all right is the Hebrew term shalom. When she speaks to her husband she tells him, “It will be shalom.” Elisha’s questions to her (spoken through Gehazi), “Is it shalom to you? Is it shalom to your husband? Is it shalom to your son?” She answers, “It is shalom.” This indomitable woman will not settle for Gehazi as a substitute for the man of God, she clings to his feet and echoes back to him her initial challenge, “Did I not say, ’Do not mislead me.’” Even though Gehazi is dispatched with the staff of Elisha, this woman will not be satisfied without the prophet’s presence and so they both return to the Shunammite woman’s house. Gehazi proves unable to revive the child and so Elisha comes into the house and closes the door.

Elisha attempts to resuscitate the child but is only able to warm the child’s skin. The two of them, presumably Elisha and Gehazi, pray and Elisha walks to and fro in the room before bending over the child one additional time when the child sneezes seven times and revives. Elisha has Gehazi summon the Shunammite woman and restores her son to her. This woman, who like the later Syrophoenician woman in Mark or the Canaanite woman in Matthew, refused to be denied the man of God’s action has their child restored.

2 Kings 4: 38-44

  38 When Elisha returned to Gilgal, there was a famine in the land. As the company of prophets was sitting before him, he said to his servant, “Put the large pot on, and make some stew for the company of prophets.” 39 One of them went out into the field to gather herbs; he found a wild vine and gathered from it a lapful of wild gourds and came and cut them up into the pot of stew, not knowing what they were. 40 They served some for the men to eat. But while they were eating the stew, they cried out, “O man of God, there is death in the pot!” They could not eat it. 41 He said, “Then bring some flour.” He threw it into the pot and said, “Serve the people and let them eat.” And there was nothing harmful in the pot.

  42 A man came from Baal-shalishah bringing food from the first fruits to the man of God: twenty loaves of barley and fresh ears of grain in his sack. Elisha said, “Give it to the people and let them eat.” 43 But his servant said, “How can I set this before a hundred people?” So he repeated, “Give it to the people and let them eat, for thus says the LORD: They shall eat and have some left.” 44 He set it before them; they ate and had some left, according to the word of the LORD.

As mentioned above, the company of prophets throughout this chapter live in a vulnerable position when there is famine in the land. Through both stories God provides for these prophets through the actions of Elisha. The first story is a story of making a poisonous stew palatable. Elisha returns to the company of prophets at Gilgal and has them put a large pot on. One member of the company finds some wild gourds, possibly citrullus colcynthus a small yellow melon known as the “Apple of Sodom” which “is a strong purgative and has been known to be fatal.” (Cogan, 1988, p. 58) Elisha makes the poisonous stew palatable by adding flour and serving it to the company.

The second miracle of provision takes twenty loaves and fresh grain providing more than enough for the hundred people present at Gilgal. A man comes bringing an offering to God to the man of God. This man from Baal-shalishah comes to the man of God instead of the royal shrine at Bethel and the prophet takes on the position as the mediator between the people and God. Elisha’s servant, likely Gehazi from the previous and following story, wonders how it can be enough for such a large group. Elisha declares that the LORD says they will all eat and have some left. Like Elijah with the widow of Zarephath’s meal and oil or the loaves and fishes in the hands of Jesus, the loaves of brought to Elisha are more than enough in the provision of God.

[1] Literally the sons of the prophets, the Benei HaNavi’im in Hebrew.

[2] Throughout the chapter Elisha is mainly referred to by his title ‘the man of God’ rather than his name. This may be due to the honor paid as the leader of the company of prophets and as the heir to Elijah.

[3] Some take this absence as a comment on the woman’s faith and limits the benefit she receives. For me this is reading too much into the story.

[4] In both this and the following miracle the action takes place behind closed doors and out of the public view.

[5] It is possible in the narrative that the father is unaware of his son’s death.

2 Kings 3 A Strange Story of Kings, Elisha, and Conflict

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The ‘Mesha Stele’ also known as the Moabite Stone discovered in 1868 which tells of the revolt of Mesha. By Unknown artist – Mbzt 2012, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=22090379

2 Kings 3


  1 In the eighteenth year of King Jehoshaphat of Judah, Jehoram son of Ahab became king over Israel in Samaria; he reigned twelve years. 2 He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, though not like his father and mother, for he removed the pillar of Baal that his father had made. 3 Nevertheless, he clung to the sin of Jeroboam son of Nebat that he caused Israel to commit; he did not depart from it.
  4 Now King Mesha of Moab was a sheep breeder who used to deliver to the king of Israel one hundred thousand lambs and the wool of one hundred thousand rams. 5 But when Ahab died, the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel. 6 So King Jehoram marched out of Samaria at that time and mustered all Israel. 7 As he went he sent word to King Jehoshaphat of Judah, “The king of Moab has rebelled against me; will you go with me to battle against Moab?” He answered, “I will; I am as you are; my people are your people; my horses are your horses.” 8 Then he asked, “By which way shall we march?” Jehoram answered, “By the way of the wilderness of Edom.”
  9 So the king of Israel, the king of Judah, and the king of Edom set out, and when they had made a roundabout march of seven days, there was no water for the army or for the animals that were with them. 10 Then the king of Israel said, “Alas! The Lord has summoned these three kings to hand them over to Moab.” 11 But Jehoshaphat said, “Is there no prophet of the Lord here through whom we may inquire of the Lord?” Then one of the servants of the king of Israel answered, “Elisha son of Shaphat, who used to pour water on the hands of Elijah, is here.” 12 Jehoshaphat said, “The word of the Lord is with him.” So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to him.
  13 Elisha said to the king of Israel, “What have I to do with you? Go to your father’s prophets or to your mother’s.” But the king of Israel said to him, “No; it is the Lord who has summoned these three kings to hand them over to Moab.” 14 Elisha said, “As the Lord of hosts lives, whom I serve, were it not that I have regard for King Jehoshaphat of Judah, I would give you neither a look nor a glance. 15 But get me a musician.” And then, while the musician was playing, the hand of the Lord came on him. 16 And he said, “Thus says the Lord: I will make this wadi full of pools. 17 For thus says the Lord: You shall see neither wind nor rain, but the wadi shall be filled with water, so that you shall drink, you, your army, and your animals. 18 This is only a trifle in the sight of the Lord, for he will also hand Moab over to you. 19 You shall conquer every fortified city and every choice city; every good tree you shall fell, all springs of water you shall stop up, and every good piece of land you shall ruin with stones.” 20 The next day, about the time of the morning offering, suddenly water began to flow from the direction of Edom until the country was filled with water.
  21 When all the Moabites heard that the kings had come up to fight against them, all who were able to put on armor, from the youngest to the oldest, were called out and were drawn up at the frontier. 22 When they rose early in the morning and the sun shone upon the water, the Moabites saw the water opposite them as red as blood. 23 They said, “This is blood; the kings must have fought together and killed one another. Now then, Moab, to the spoil!” 24 But when they came to the camp of Israel, the Israelites rose up and attacked the Moabites, who fled before them; as they entered Moab, they continued the attack. 25 The cities they overturned, and on every good piece of land everyone threw a stone until it was covered; every spring of water they stopped up, and every good tree they felled. Only at Kir-hareseth did the stone walls remain until the slingers surrounded and attacked it. 26 When the king of Moab saw that the battle was going against him, he took with him seven hundred swordsmen to break through opposite the king of Edom, but they could not. 27 Then he took his firstborn son who was to succeed him and offered him as a burnt offering on the wall. And great wrath came upon Israel, so they withdrew from him and returned to their own land.

This is a strange story for several reasons. On the one hand it is a story of a bad, but not as bad as his predecessors, king of Israel who calls on an alliance with the kings of Judah and Edom. The king of Israel is not portrayed in a favorable light and Elisha has no regard for him. The act of prophesy by Elisha is also linked to a performance of a musician which sets the mood for a prophetic state. The prophetic command is also strange since it contradicts the rules for war outlined in Deuteronomy. Finally, the strangest note is at the end when the king of Moab’s sacrifice of his firstborn son turns the tide and Israel withdraws. Yet, this is also an interesting passage for historians who have the ‘Mesha Stele’ which provides an independent witness to this time-period from the perspective of Moab.

From a historical perspective the discovery of the ‘Mesha Stele’ confirms several points of the 2 Kings narrative. King Mesha of Moab was ‘oppressed’ by the Omri dynasty, likely paying tribute to the king. In the view of King Mesha this situation is due to Chemosh, the god of the Moabites, being displeased with his people. Finally, it confirms an uprising of Mesha against a son of Omri, presumably Jehoram, in which King Mesha accomplishes some victories. The precipitating events which cause the king of Israel to reach out to his allies and begin to take military action against Moab are given an independent witness by this discovery. This also makes sense within the previous narrative where King Ahab dies and Moab rebels in 2 Kings 1:1. Ahaziah’s brief reign, cut short by his fall and then sending messengers to Ekron seeking insight from Baal-zebub, made him too weak of a leader to respond to this rebellion.

There are numerous similarities between this narrative and the conflict between Aram and the Israel and Judah mentioned in 1 Kings 22. In both narratives King Jehoshaphat of Judah replies both as and ally, but also the weaker party in the relationship, willingly committing his forces to the king of Israel’s conflict. In both stories it is the king of Judah who requests that they seek out the opinion of a prophet of the LORD that is not tied to the royal apparatus of the king of Israel. Unlike the previous story the outcome is mostly favorable for both the king of Israel and the king of Judah.

King Mesha is noted as a sheep-breeder, and his tribute is an excessive quantity of both lambs and wool. There is no time-period for the tribute so it may be an annual tribute, or it may be the tribute over the time of subservience. Although King Mesha may simply preside, “over a semi-nomadic economy in Moab. The principle industry is sheep and the principle products are wool and lamb.” (Brueggemann, 2000, p. 306) It is also worth noting that throughout scripture kings are often portrayed metaphorically as shepherds. The king may be directly involved in sheep-breeding, but it is equally likely that he is the ‘shepherd’ of a people whose primary livelihood revolves around sheep.

The king of Israel moves his army through Judah and through Edom to attack Moab from the south. This move is likely to approach Moab from a direction they do not expect and to utilize the element of surprise, but any advantage quickly dissipates when the army runs out of water.  It is possible that springs or waters they expected to utilize had dried up or that they simply failed to adequately plan and scout the route, but the situation results in an army foundering in the wilderness and vulnerable to the king of Moab’s attack. Jehoram interprets this as a sign of the LORD’s displeasure, but Jehoshaphat suggests they inquire of a prophet of the LORD. Apparently, Elisha has either been traveling in proximity of the company or has at some earlier point moved to the wilderness of Edom to be available at this moment of the kings’ peril.

According to the evaluation of 2 Kings, Jehoram is still a bad king but not as bad as his predecessors. Sometime in his reign he is reported to have removed the pillar of Baal (likely after the LORD’s deliverance in this narrative) and according to the narrative of 2 Kings, he believes that the LORD the God of Israel has called the three kings together in this mission and is also punishing them. Even though it is King Jehoshaphat of Judah who asks to consult a prophet of the LORD, King Jehoram does not seem to resist the kings going to consult with Elisha nor does he push back against Elisha’s harsh words. Elisha, like his predecessor Elijah, has little use for the kings of the Omri dynasty but he does respect the king of Judah.

Elisha requests a musician and then has a moment when the hand of the LORD comes upon him. The hand of the LORD coming upon Elisha was likely viewed by the observers as an ecstatic experience and there is an expectation of prophets being overtaken by an experience they cannot control.[1] Elisha’s message brings an answer not only to the immediate problem of water, but it also foretells victory over their Moabite opponents. Yet, strangely, the prophet’s commands violate the expectations of conflict outlined in Deuteronomy which prohibits the chopping down of trees.[2] There is a biblical desire to preserve the land. In ancient warfare it is common attempt to deny your enemy the fruitfulness of the land, which is what the prophet’s guidance indicates, but the tension between the law in Deuteronomy and the prophet’s guidance is one additional strange element to this strange story.  

The Hebrew storytellers love wordplay and allusion to other narratives, and in the Moabites response to these kings in the wilderness. The waters being red as blood recalls on of God’s first major actions to bring the people out of Egypt by turning the waters of the Nile to blood.[3] But the scene also plays on the origin story of Edom in Genesis being Esau, Jacob/Israel’s brother, whose name means ‘red’ and is famous for selling his birthright for ‘red stuff.’[4] We don’t know why the Moabites interpret the red looking water as blood, but it causes them to camp of Israel in a less cautious manner.

The overall progression of the battle is portrayed as a rout where Israel and its allies overwhelm the Moabite advance on their camp and then proceed to follow Elisha’s guidance against the land and the cities. Only Kir-hareseth’s[5] stone wall briefly stops the advance before slingers attack it. The victories of Israel are not strange in this narrative, but the halting of the success is.

The final verse of this chapter has provoked the greatest debate among interpreters as they wrestle with how to deal with the implications of wrath coming upon Israel as a result of the King of Moab’s sacrifice. The bible shares with the rest of the ancient world the belief that there is power in blood and there is in many ancient belief systems an idea that appears in many fantasy worlds that connects blood, particularly the shedding of blood, in the practice of magic or appeasing deities or demons. The most literal interpretation of the words is that King Mesha sacrifices his first-born heir to Chemosh on the wall and this awakens Chemosh who grants the Moabites power against their foes. The Hebrew scriptures are insistent that the LORD is above all other gods, but it also assumes a world where these other gods of the nations do have power. The offense of this interpretation is that Chemosh successfully resists the LORD and halts the prophesied conquest over Moab. Rabbinic exegetes give an explanation that the son sacrificed is the son of the king of Edom, the ally of Israel and Judah, and this sacrifice causes Edom to turn against his allies. (Cogan, 1988, p. 48) Brueggemann speaks for a lot of modern readers when he states, “The most remarkable fact about the narrative is that everything we would most like to know is left unsaid.” (Brueggemann, 2000, p. 315) It is a strange ending to a strange story. It is unusual that a story where another god may have prevented the outcome the LORD’s prophet indicated to be completed. Yet, the story does not give any reason for the King Mesha of Moab being able to finally resist the kings of Israel, Judah and Edom as well as the LORD who stands behind them.

[1] 1 Samuel 10: 9-13; 19: 23-24.

[2] Deuteronomy 20:19.

[3] Exodus 7: 14-25.

[4] Genesis 25: 25, 30.

[5] Brueggemann notes on Kir-hareseth, “Nothing is known of this city, the site of Israel’s last success in this military campaign. However, the mention of the city in Isa 16;7, Jer 48:31, 36 as a poetic parallel for “Moab” suggest that it was a major site, certainly a freighted item in the prophet’s imagination. (Brueggemann, 2000, p. 313)

2 Kings 2 Elijah’s Departure and Elisha’s Ministry Begins

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Elijah the Prophet By Nicholas Roerich – Estonian Roerich Society, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5066171

2 Kings 2: 1-18 A Prophetic Transition

  1 Now when the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven by a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal. 2 Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here, for the Lord has sent me as far as Bethel.” But Elisha said, “As the Lord lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel. 3 The company of prophets who were in Bethel came out to Elisha and said to him, “Do you know that today the Lord will take your master away from you?” And he said, “Yes, I know; keep silent.”
  4 Elijah said to him, “Elisha, stay here, for the Lord has sent me to Jericho.” But he said, “As the Lord lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they came to Jericho. 5 The company of prophets who were at Jericho drew near to Elisha and said to him, “Do you know that today the Lord will take your master away from you?” And he answered, “Yes, I know; keep silent.”
  6 Then Elijah said to him, “Stay here, for the Lord has sent me to the Jordan.” But he said, “As the Lord lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So the two of them went on. 7 Fifty men of the company of prophets also went and stood at some distance from them, as they both were standing by the Jordan. 8 Then Elijah took his mantle and rolled it up and struck the water; the water was parted to the one side and to the other, and the two of them crossed on dry ground.
  9 When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me what I may do for you before I am taken from you.” Elisha said, “Please let me inherit a double share of your spirit.” 10 He responded, “You have asked a hard thing, yet if you see me as I am being taken from you, it will be granted you; if not, it will not.” 11 As they continued walking and talking, a chariot of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them, and Elijah ascended in a whirlwind into heaven. 12 Elisha kept watching and crying out, “Father, father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” But when he could no longer see him, he grasped his own clothes and tore them in two pieces.
  13 He picked up the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. 14 He took the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him and struck the water. He said, “Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah? Where is he?” He struck the water again, and the water was parted to the one side and to the other, and Elisha crossed over.
  15 When the company of prophets who were at Jericho saw him at a distance, they declared, “The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha.” They came to meet him and bowed to the ground before him. 16 They said to him, “See now, we have fifty strong men among your servants; please let them go and seek your master; it may be that the spirit of the Lord has caught him up and thrown him down on some mountain or into some valley.” He responded, “No, do not send them.” 17 But when they urged him to the point of embarrassment, he said, “Send them.” So they sent fifty men who searched for three days but did not find him. 18 When they came back to him (he had remained at Jericho), he said to them, “Did I not say to you, ‘Do not go’?”

The well-known imagery of the chariot of fire and the ascension of Elijah into heaven in the whirlwind serves as a transition between the prophetic ministry of Elijah and Elisha. The story is told outside of the framing of time in the succession of kings, likely to enhance the special nature of this moment. As Walter Brueggemann states, “the remarkable moment of prophetic transition is so odd and so exceptional that it cannot be held in royal time or understood in royal rationality.” (Brueggemann, 2000, p. 293) In this moment Elisha beholds that God’s power and might are at work in the world in a way that both reflects the imagery of the kingly power of the day (chariots and horses as the primary military technology of the time) but also transcends it. In addition to the transition between the ministries of Elijah and Elisha it also reminds the readers that God’s work in the world, often unseen, continues and occasionally the faithful servants of God have their eyes opened to see God’s power and presence in surprising ways.

Throughout this journey from Gilgal to Bethel to Jericho and then to the Jordan, a journey of at least twenty-four miles, Elijah tells Elisha three times to “Stay here” and Elisha answers, “As the Lord lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” The story has some resonance with the refusal of Ruth to abandon her mother-in-law Naomi in Ruth 1: 15-17, and there are familial overtones to the Elijah and Elisha narrative as well. Both Ruth and Elisha are not related to the person they are clinging to by blood, but both claim the bond and responsibility of primary relations. This is heightened when one realizes that the word “leave” has the connotation of “abandon” in Hebrew. (Brueggemann, 2000, p. 294) Elisha’s ask of a ‘double share’ of Elijah’s spirit also connects with the ‘double share’ that a first-born heir is to receive according to Deuteronomy 21: 15-17. Elisha is probably not asking to receive twice the spirit endowed charisma as Elijah but instead to be recognized by Elisha and ultimately God as the proper heir to the prophetic ministry of Elijah.

Elisha is aware throughout the narrative of Elijah’s impending departure, a knowledge reinforced by the message of the sons of prophets at each location of their journey. Finally, as Elijah approaches the Jordan River, he utilizes his mantle and causes the waters of the river to be divided. Elijah’s mantle functions in a similar manner to Moses’ staff and Elijah’s authority is the authority promised in Deuteronomy 18:18 of a prophet like Moses. After Elijah’s ascension the same mantle in the hands of Elisha demonstrates that this heir to the prophetic ministry of Elijah is also a prophet with the authority and power that God entrusted to both Elijah and Elisha.

Most religious art depicting the ascension of Elijah pictures the prophet riding in the chariot, but that is not explicit in the text. The chariot of fire and the horses[1] separate Elijah from Elisha. Elisha sees a multitude of chariots, a sight he will later share with his servant in 2 Kings 6:17. Elijah, and presumably the chariots as well, ascend in the whirlwind. The company of prophets who observed this from a distance presumably saw something like the whirlwind but not the chariots of Israel and its horsemen.[2] In their limited vision they press Elisha to allow fifty strong men from their company to seek Elijah’s body to give it a proper burial. Elisha says not to send them but eventually is pressed enough that in embarrassment he allows the fifty to seek Elijah.

Elijah’s influence will continue long beyond his death even though he will only be mentioned one additional time in the Hebrew Bible. Elijah is the forerunner of the day of LORD in Malachi 4: 5-6:

See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes.  He will turn the hearts of parents to their children and the hearts of children to their parents, so that I will not come and strike the land with a curse.

Elijah continues to have a role in the practice of both Judaism and Christianity. In Judaism the role of Elijah would be tied to the coming of the messiah and he continues to have a seat at the practice of circumcision, during the Sedar meal, and the prayer at the end of the Sabbath calls for Elijah to come in the coming week. Elijah’s role in Christianity would rest upon John the Baptist and the one who preceded the coming of Jesus and Elijah along with Moses would appear at the transfiguration. Only Elijah and Enoch would not experience death in their stories in the bible, and this allowed both figures to become popular in the stories and hope of later generations.


2 Kings 2: 19-25 A Prophet of Blessing and Curse

  19 Now the people of the city said to Elisha, “The location of this city is good, as my lord sees, but the water is bad, and the land is unfruitful.” 20 He said, “Bring me a new bowl, and put salt in it.” So they brought it to him. 21 Then he went to the spring of water and threw the salt into it and said, “Thus says the Lord: I have made this water wholesome; from now on neither death nor miscarriage shall come from it.” 22 So the water has been wholesome to this day, according to the word that Elisha spoke.
  23 He went up from there to Bethel, and while he was going up on the way, some small boys came out of the city and jeered at him, saying, “Go away, baldhead! Go away, baldhead!” 24 When he turned around and saw them, he cursed them in the name of the Lord. Then two she-bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the boys. 25 From there he went on to Mount Carmel and then returned to Samaria.

The ministry of Elisha as the main prophetic figure of the time begins with two stories that intentionally bring together the potential for blessing and curse in a figure whose life and ministry are closely tied to God. The first story now links Elisha to Moses with a story with multiple parallels to Moses’ making the bitter waters of Marah sweet. Alex Israel identifies the similarities between the two stories:

  • Marah follows the splitting of the Reed Sea. Our Jericho story follows the miraculous parting of the Jordan River.
  • Three Days: Marah followed the crossing of the Reed Sea by three days. Similarly, the events at Jericho transpire three days after the splitting of the Jordan (II Kings 2: 17-18).
  • In both instances, the water is undrinkable. The people voice the problem to the prophet.
  • The water is made drinkable by casting into it (vayashleh) a substance that would seem unrelated to the treatment of water (tree/salt).
  • The proclamation made in God’s name identifies God as their “healer”: At Marah, “I am the Lord, your healer.” (Ex. 15:26) At Jericho, “Thus says the Lord: I have healed this water.” (II Kings 2:21) (Israel, 2019, p. 31)

One could argue, a Choon-Leong Seow does, that Elisha even surpasses the work of Moses by ‘healing’ the waters where Moses only ‘sweetens’ the bitter waters. (NIB III:178) This ministry of blessing in Jericho is now set alongside a curse on the prophet’s journey to Bethel towards the disrespectful small boys.

The second half of these stories cause a fair amount of discomfort for modern readers who view the prophet’s curse and the resulting mauling of the boys as an overreaction to their taunting of the prophet as ‘baldy’ or ‘baldhead.’ Forty-two may be a figure to explain a large number[3] but our modern embarrassment at the mauling of these boys in my view misses the point of the narrative. Elisha, as the prophet of God and speaker of the words of God, is closely tied both to this ministry of Moses and Elijah but more critically to the God of Israel. To disrespect Elisha, for the narrative, is to disrespect God. When the people of entreat Elijah with respect he brings them blessing, when these boys treat the emissary of God with disrespect it brings a curse. A true bearer of God’s message of blessing and curse is a fearful and wonderful thing.

Elisha’s ministry begins by retracing the steps of Elijah from the Jordan to Jericho, from Jericho to Bethel, and finally returning to Mount Carmel. Mount Carmel, as Alex Israel reminds us, is the site of “Elijah’s pièce de resistance” (Israel, 2019, p. 22) where the God of Israel demonstrated victory over the 500 prophets of Baal. (1 Kings 18: 20-40) Now Elisha begins his career by ascending both physically and metaphorically to the zenith of Elijah’s ministry.

[1] The Hebrew word rekeb may refer to a group of chariots (NIB III:176).

[2] This phrase will reappear at the end of Elisha’s ministry in 2 Kings 13: 14-19.

[3] This is also the number of victims slain by Jehu in 2 Kings 10:14

Introduction to 2 Kings

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Cry Of Prophet Jeremiah on the Ruins of Jerusalem by Ilya Repin 1870

1&2 Kings together form a narrative that runs from the pinnacle of the nation of Israel under Solomon to its nadir at the beginning of the Babylonian exile. First and Second Kings were initially a common book, the book of Kings, which was later divided into two books in the biblical canon.[1] I worked through 1 Kings in 2022-2023, and now it is time to walk through the remainder of this story of the northern kingdom’s destruction by the Assyrian empire in 721 BCE and the Babylonian empire’s conquering of Judah in roughly 587 BCE. 1 Kings ends during of the ministry of Elijah and Elisha the prophets in northern Israel.

In the Jewish division of the Hebrew Scriptures the Deuteronomic History (Joshua, Judges, 1&2 Samuel, and 1&2 Kings) are all grouped with the prophets. They are history viewed through a theological lens and with the intention of looking backwards to understand the situation of the people in exile. There is a tradition of associating these books with Jeremiah, and they do share a common worldview. This association is heightened by the reality that 2 Kings and Jeremiah end with a narration that is almost identical.

2 Kings narrates the collapse of the land of Israel and the monarchy of both Israel (Samaria) and Judah. The kings throughout the book of Kings are evaluated by the theological perspective of Deuteronomy and with a few notable exceptions most of these kings can be summarized by the phrase, “He committed all the sins that his father did before him; his heart was not true to the LORD his God like the heart of his father David.” (1 Kings 15:3 referring to Abijam, son of Rehoboam, son of Solomon but similar language is used for all the ‘bad’ kings).

If you spend much time working in the Hebrew Scriptures/Old Testament, the impact of the Babylonian exile is unavoidable. It is a central defining crisis for the people of Judah. The books of Jeremiah, Lamentations, and Ezekiel are all centered around this time-period and 2 Kings’ historical narrative ends at the exile. 2 Kings has some stories that are utilized in the life of the church, but as a book the stories of 2 Kings are probably less familiar than the stories of 1 Kings. My journey through 1 Kings provided me a much fuller appreciation of this portion of the story of God’s people, and I look forward to discovering the conclusion of this portion of the story of Israel in a richer way.

Resources Used For This Journey

Brueggemann, Walter. 1 & 2 Kings. Macon, GA: Smith & Helwys Publishing Incorporated. 2000

Walter Brueggemann is one of the most prolific Christian writers on the Hebrew Scriptures and brings a wide breadth of knowledge on both the collection of scripture as whole. His writing is consistently readable and insightful and tends to explore challenging perspectives. The Smith & Helwys Bible Commentary series is a very attractive resource bringing together commentary and discussion with artwork, maps, and other visual resources. This resource is closer to the blogging format which I write in than many books. More of a thematic commentary which is useful for preaching and teaching. I also utilized this volume during my reflections on 1 Kings.

Cogan, Mordechai and Hayim Takmor, II Kings: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary (The Anchor Bible). New York City: Doubleday & Company, Inc. 1988

The Anchor Bible, Now the Anchor Yale Bible, is a detailed textual commentary. I utilized Mordechai Cogan’s first volume in my work on 1 Kings. This is the longest and most detailed of the works I used for this journey through 2 Kings. This is a volume more directed to the specialist rather than the preacher or teacher and some knowledge of Hebrew is helpful in using this resource.

Israel, Alex. II Kings: In A Whirlwind. (Maggid Studies in the Tanakh). Jerusalem: Maggid Books, 2019.

I utilized Rabbi Alex Israel’s first volume in my reflections on 1 Kings. When looking at a Hebrew Scripture text I like to have a Jewish voice and the Maggid Studies are an approachable resource. Rabbi Israel’s skill as a teacher is on display in this volume as he writes an approachable text which brings 2 Kings into dialogue with the historical context and rabbinic interpretation. A clear and insightful perspective on the people and events of 2 Kings.

Seow, Choon-Leong. “The Books of 1 and 2 Kings.” In New Interpreter’s Bible III: 1-295.12 Vols. Nashville: Abingdon Press. 1999.

The NIB (New Interpreter’s Bible) is a solid resource as a resource for preaching and teaching that covers the entire bible and goes into some textual issues, but it primarily is focused on giving a fuller context to the story. Choon-Leon Seow’s contribution on the 1 and 2 Kings goes into a little more depth on translational issues than some other portions of this commentary set I’ve utilized, and this was a positive since it identified some interesting things to explore in the Hebrew text. This was another solid portion of the NIB and it is a resource worth having on the shelf for a pastor.

[1] The division initially occurred in the translation of the Hebrew Text into Greek (the Septuagint).

1 Kings 19 Elijah Encounters the LORD at Mount Horeb and the Appointment of Elisha

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Elijah in the Wilderness By Frederic Leighton (1877-78) – uQG9WGfbc10kDw at Google Cultural Institute maximum zoom level, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=21878932

1 Kings 19: 1-18

1 Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. 2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So may the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life like the life of one of them by this time tomorrow.” 3 Then he was afraid; he got up and fled for his life, and came to Beer-sheba, which belongs to Judah; he left his servant there.

4 But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a solitary broom tree. He asked that he might die: “It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life, for I am no better than my ancestors.” 5 Then he lay down under the broom tree and fell asleep. Suddenly an angel touched him and said to him, “Get up and eat.” 6 He looked, and there at his head was a cake baked on hot stones, and a jar of water. He ate and drank, and lay down again. 7 The angel of the LORD came a second time, touched him, and said, “Get up and eat, otherwise the journey will be too much for you.” 8 He got up, and ate and drank; then he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb the mount of God. 9 At that place he came to a cave, and spent the night there.

Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 10 He answered, “I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.”

11 He said, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by.” Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake; 12 and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence. 13 When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Then there came a voice to him that said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 14 He answered, “I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.” 15 Then the LORD said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus; when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael as king over Aram. 16 Also you shall anoint Jehu son of Nimshi as king over Israel; and you shall anoint Elisha son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah as prophet in your place. 17 Whoever escapes from the sword of Hazael, Jehu shall kill; and whoever escapes from the sword of Jehu, Elisha shall kill. 18 Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.”

Elijah’s triumph over the prophets of Baal and triumphal run before King Ahab quickly dissolves before the vengeful fury of Jezebel. Jezebel becomes the primary opponent of Elijah, not King Ahab, and although she may be unable to act openly on the day of Elijah’s triumph when the rains have returned and the memory of the fire of the LORD consuming the altar and the sacrifice still is fresh on Ahab and the crowd’s memory, she acts through a messenger.[1] The messenger relays Jezebel’s promise of death. Her threat has already eliminated many prophets of the LORD and has sent many others into hiding.[2] Ultimately Jezebel’s warning enables Elijah’s escape, but as Alex Israel points out, “She need not actually kill him; she is happy to see him disappear for another three years!” (Israel, 2013, p. 260) Jezebel views Elijah as a singular threat to the values she represents.

Jezebel as she is represented in the narrative of 1 Kings is the antithesis of the values of the covenantal way of the Torah (the law of Israel). Some have speculated that the canonical portrayal of Jezebel is another example of a patriarchal silencing of a powerful woman, but the issue for the author of 1 Kings is not the power Jezebel wields but how her use of it leads people away from the ways of covenantal faithfulness. Jezebel’s name will become a symbol for all that leads away from faithful adherence to the way of God in both Jewish and Christian thought. For example, Jezebel’s name will later be used in the book of Revelation for a figure who is leading the faithful astray. [3] For the narrative of 1 Kings, Jezebel and Elijah represent the opposing poles which Israel continues to ‘limp’ between. Jezebel represents faithfulness to the Phoenician gods and values of her family while Elijah represents fidelity to the worship and covenantal values of the LORD the God of Israel. Israel often attempted to combine elements of both into their communal life but both Elijah and Jezebel are violently opposed to this accommodation.

There have been many who have speculated on Elijah’s mental state as he flees the threat of Jezebel and heads into the wilderness outside the territory of Israel. He passes over the border into Jerusalem and then leaves behind his servant and heads alone on his journey. In Brueggemann’s words,

He arrives in the wilderness completely spent. He has mustered enormous energy for the dispute at Carmel. And though he has won, he is permitted no chance of exultation. His wish-prayer of v.4 is for death. He is distressed and dismayed. And then he sleeps. He has no energy for anything else. (Brueggemann, 2000, p. 234)

It is possible that after the contest with the prophets of Baal and the run to Jezreel that Elijah is physically, emotionally, and spiritually exhausted but the scriptures rarely share these details in their narration of the story. Others have speculated that Elijah is in a deep bout of depression as he asks God to end his life, and that is possible although ancient people would not have thought of depression as a clinical issue but merely as a state of melancholia. I would suggest another alternative, one that does not rule out exhaustion or depression, Elijah’s heart is broken. Elijah presided over the defeat and destruction of the prophets of Baal, rallied the people, ran before the king, and still, no one in Israel seems to be able to protect him from Queen Jezebel. Israel’s turn back towards the LORD the God of Israel seems to Elijah to have been washed away by the returning rains and forgotten once they left Mount Carmel. Three years of drought and hiding, the people’s suffering, the prophets’ death all seems to count for nothing and Elijah, for all his zeal, has not managed to change the course of the people. In his words he is no better than those who came before him and failed to change things.

The journey[4] of Elijah has been difficult. The journey that takes him into the wilderness is merely one part of this exhausting journey, but now alone he is content to leave the people behind and appeal to his God for death. Finding a solitary tree in the wilderness, Elijah is ready to renounce his vocation and his life. A messenger set him on this flight, and now another messenger replies to his plea for his journey and his life to end. One messenger threatens death, the second brings nourishment and comfort that brings the prophet back from his wish for death. This angelic messenger from God meets him as he sleeps. Sleep is often a time where God or God’s messengers interact with the faithful. We often discount this space of sleep and dreams but in the scriptures it is often a place where the divine draws close. Yet, this angelic messenger does not bring just guidance but brings tangible food and drink to help restore the prophet’s strength. This passage uses a number of uncommon Hebrew words to talk about the cake, ‘hot stones,’ and jar of water that link us to other critical scenes in the scriptures. The words for ‘cake’ and ‘jar’[5] are the same words that are used when Elijah asks the widow for water and a cake of bread in 1 Kings 17: 8-16, and now Elijah is like the widow and her son nearing the point of death and needing divine provision in a place where no food grows. ‘Hot coals’ or ‘hot stones’[6] is only used here and in Isaiah 6:6 when the seraphs bring a hot stone to purify Isaiah’s lips. (NIB III: 140) Food, drink, and rest are the divine answers to the prophets who has been worn out on the way. The second time the angel awakens Elijah he encourages him to eat again “or the way will be too much for you.” The NRSV’s translation indicates that the food is for the journey ahead to Mount Horeb, but the Hebrew is more ambiguous.[7] It may refer to the forty day and forty-night journey to and sojourn on Mount Horeb[8] but it also may refer more broadly to the way that Elijah will be called to walk as the prophet of God.

Mount Horeb is a sacred space in the imagination of Israel. Mount Horeb and Mount Sinai refer to the same mountain, the mountain where God first spoke to Moses, where the people receive the commandments of the LORD, and critically where Moses goes to appeal to God after the people worshipped the golden calf. The cave that Elijah journeys to is likely the same cleft where Moses hid while God passed by (Exodus 33:22). Elijah is coming to a place where he can encounter God directly. God is bringing Elijah to a place where he can be reoriented to the way of Moses.

In the commandments, the explanation for making not making an idol is, “for I the LORD your God am a jealous God,” and the words[9] translated ‘zealous’ when referring to Elijah is the same word in the commandment for God’s ‘jealousy.’ A close reader might begin to question if Elijah is taking too much responsibility on his shoulders, attempting to be ‘jealous’ in God’s stead. As mentioned above I do believe that Elijah is heartbroken over the seeming inability of Israel to maintain faithfulness to God his own seeming ineffectiveness as a prophet. Elijah is jealous on behalf of God and perhaps angry at feeling left alone to complete this work. Although we know that there are at least one hundred prophets who were rescued by Obadiah, Elijah’s complaint that he is alone to bear the burden of Israel’s unfaithfulness and it is a burden he can no longer bear.

The LORD grants Elijah’s wish for an audience, but it does not transpire as Elijah probably hoped. Baal is a storm god in Canaanite mythology and so the approach of a great wind would be associated with a god of storms, but the LORD was not in this wind which breaks rocks apart. The earthquake and the fire are also forces of immense power and places where God’s presence may be expected but God appears in none of these destructive forces. These things are driven before the LORD as the LORD approaches[10] but when they have passed the LORD is present in the ‘sound of sheer silence.’ The ‘sound of sheer silence’ comes from three Hebrew words: kol -voice or sound, demama- silence, and daka-thin, withered, or granular. The voice can be emerging from the silence or present in the silence, but it is not the terrifying, destructive thing that preceded it. Elijah wraps his mantle around his face and walks into the sound and silence.

Twice Elijah is asked “What are you doing here?” and twice he responds, “I have been zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life to take it away.” Unlike Moses who goes up the mountain to plead for the people, Elijah goes up the mountain to accuse the people. Elijah had earlier mocked the prophets of Baal for their god’s inactivity, now Elijah is frustrated with the LORD’s response to the unfaithfulness among the people.

He cannot stand that God will sit by and watch as the nation adopts Baal as its deity… God wishes to function in the world via the “still, small voice”; Elijah wants fire, thunder, and earthquake. He cannot accommodate a world in which Jezebel can rule with a free hand, and does not understand why god will not bring the world to order. (Israel, 2013, pp. 266-267)

Elijah is brokenhearted with both the LORD and with Israel and stands caught between both. The world no longer makes sense to this prophet who sees his work on behalf of God met with threats of violence. Elijah is seeking a world where either the LORD acts against Jezebel and those who oppose the prophets or he no longer bears this burden.

The LORD will act and will grant what Elijah wishes, but not in the way that Elijah expects. Elijah does receive a mandate to return to his way, but it is a journey where he will be setting in motion the forces that end the reign of Ahab and Jezebel. The LORD is not going to act through wind, earthquake and fire, nor will the LORD summon the heavenly host, instead the LORD is going to work through the movement of forces within and external to Israel. God will work behind the scenes of history in the transitions of power. Elijah has perhaps in his jealousy overestimated his own significance in feeling that he is the only faithful one left, while God discloses a remnant of seven thousand and has designated another to bear his mantle. Elijah’s wish for his service and life to be at an end will be granted by God, but he is given three final tasks to prepare the way for the future. Ironically, the prophet who has complained about the unfaithfulness of Israel will not fulfill his final directive in the way the LORD directs.

1 Kings 19: 19-21

19 So he set out from there, and found Elisha son of Shaphat, who was plowing. There were twelve yoke of oxen ahead of him, and he was with the twelfth. Elijah passed by him and threw his mantle over him. 20 He left the oxen, ran after Elijah, and said, “Let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you.” Then Elijah said to him, “Go back again; for what have I done to you?” 21 He returned from following him, took the yoke of oxen, and slaughtered them; using the equipment from the oxen, he boiled their flesh, and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he set out and followed Elijah, and became his servant.

Elijah never makes it to Damascus. Instead he approaches his replacement first and casts his mantle upon him. Abel-meholah is closer to Mount Horeb than Damascus and it may reflect an exhausted and broken-hearted prophet ready to pass the mantle of prophecy to another. Elisha, whose name means ‘God is my salvation’, is presumably coming from a wealthy household since he has twelve yoke of oxen to plow with. Yet, when Elijah throws the mantle over him Elisha is willing to leave this life behind, he only asks Elijah’s permission to say farewell. Although Jesus will later say to a disciple who wishes to bury his father, “let the dead bury their own dead.” (Matthew 8:21), there is no judgment expressed by Elijah. There may be a note of regret as Elijah says to Elisha, “Go back again; for what have I done to you?” The brokenhearted prophet may not wish for another to leave behind a life of prosperity for a life of deprivation and hardship, a life hunted by those in power. Yet, Elisha in saying farewell not only to his parents, but also the community, sacrifices the oxen and sets out to join Elijah on the way.

[1] The Hebrew mal’ak is used for both the messenger of Jezebel and the angel of the LORD in this passage.

[2] Notably the 100 prophets hidden by Obadiah in the previous chapter.

[3] Revelation 2:20

[4] Journey and way throughout this passage are the Hebrew derek which generally means way, road, distance, or journey.

[5] Hebrew ‘uga and shappahat

[6] Hebrew reshapim

[7] Hebrew mimmeka haddarek (NIB III: 140)

[8] The forty-day journey can be literal, but forty days is also frequently a way that the scriptures refer to a long and complete time. The number forty in Jewish thought often designates completeness, hence forty years in the wilderness, forty days Moses spends on Mount Sinai receiving the law, forty days of temptation, and many other examples.

[9] Quanno qunneti

[10] This imagery is common in scriptures, for example Judges 5: 4-5, Psalm 18:7-10, and Isaiah 29:6